Tension
by abby-sarajane
Summary: ShinRa politics is only slightly less complicated than the relationships of its Turks. Rufus sits back and watches the fireworks from the best seat in the house. TsengElena, RenoRude. Rating for language and mild sexual situations. PostAC
1. Pining, Drinking, Understanding

Everything was fine.

That thought, in and of itself was nearly terrifying. Rufus Shin-ra was healed of the geostigma. Reno and Rude were unharmed. Tseng was recovering very well from his injuries. Even Elena was near to her top fighting form. Her right foot still ached white fire from when Kadaj had crushed it, and the various other injuries throbbed lightly, but those were ignorable.

Turks were not Turks for nothing. And rookie though she was, she was still a Turk.

Reno was babbling animatedly about a celebration. She was fairly certain it involved something with a bar. That was the last thing she wanted to do at the time. She wanted to go home and fall over. Quickly.

She glanced over at Tseng as subtly as she could. He looked cool, calm, professional, unconcerned with everything but the fact that Rufus was healed from the horrible blight that had racked his body with pain for so long. His torture had been worse than hers, and yet he seemed to bear no scars from it.

She knew he did. Physically, at least. She'd seen them, once, new red tears layered onto paler, older marks on his pale skin. She'd peeked when they were in the healing hall, while he'd been slowly changing his clothes.

She hated the crush. But she couldn't stop it. Who could? One look at Tseng, and she just melted all over again. It didn't help that he did nothing to dissuade it. He was polite and businesslike on duty, and quietly attentive and just as polite while off duty.

Sometimes it was so damned hard to be professional around him, when she just wanted to throw herself into his arms and ask him to take her back to his apartment. While that was a wonderful fantasy, it was unlikely that that was the sort of thing Tseng wanted in a woman.

Elena wasn't even certain that he wanted a woman. He didn't show any interest in the coy looks of Shin-ra's secretaries, or the women on the street.

_Then again, maybe he just doesn't want to catch some kind of horrible disease._ Elena didn't have much credit for women who slept with every man they saw.

_I just want to sleep with _one_ man I see..._

She quickly dispelled that thought. She didn't need to be distracted right now. Apparently, the threat of Kadaj and his gang were over. That was a relief; she never, ever wanted to see them ever again. The fact that they were dead certainly increased that chance.

She was glad they were dead. She could still hear Tseng's screams of pain sometimes, when she was half-asleep, and the nightmares took hold. _Because of me._

"Hey, rookie, wake up."

Her gaze snapped up to Reno. "What?"

"You're slipping." Reno's smug smirk was as annoying as ever. And she'd never been happier to see it. "I, for one, am going to a bar. You're coming, right?"

"No, I don't think so." Elena shook her head. Getting drunk was the very last thing she wanted to do right now. Well, getting drunk in a public bar, anyway. Maybe in the quiet of her own home, a bottle of wine wouldn't be too bad...

"C'mon! Rude's coming, and Tseng will too, right?"

"No." Tseng said calmly, as Rude stared at Reno, clearly having been informed of his presence at the bar for the very first time.

"What? Why not?" Reno looked at Rude, shrugging off the bald man's stern look.

"It hardly sounds appealing to me right now. Besides, someone needs to stay and guard the boss until he goes home." Tseng's logic was, as always, flawless.

Except for the fact that Rufus Shin-ra was not stupid. "I will return home directly, then." He stood up, moving with the newfound restless energy of one who has sat for too long and can now move again. "I could do with time to myself, for once."

This was the polite way of saying "I am not stupid, you are exhausted, and you will return home immediately to rest." Tseng knew that. So did the others. For a moment, no one said anything.

Then Reno had to open his stupid mouth. "C'mon, boss, why don't _you_ come to the bar with Rude and I?"

Rufus turned a blank, emotionless look on Reno. Reno tried for a winning smile. It penetrated; Rufus' lips twitched upward slightly. "Not tonight."

"Your loss, boss. Elena, Tseng, c'mon..." Reno turned his attention back to them.

"No." Tseng said firmly.

"No, thanks," Elena said, simultaneously. She stood quietly for a moment, before forcing herself to admit it, before Reno could say anything else. "I'm really... tired, Reno."

Reno fell into an uncharacteristic silence, as what she said clicked. "Oh. _Oh_. Yeah." The expression on his face showed the wheels in his head clicking. The blood-smeared ID cards. The gunshots. The North Crater. He was talkative, excitable and edgy. Not stupid.

Tseng glanced quietly at Elena, and she fought down a flush of shame. She hated admitting the weakness, especially in front of Tseng. She'd worked so hard to be the Turk she should be. Tseng would never admit to weakness. Rude wouldn't. Neither would Reno, for all his unprofessional behavior.

The double stigma. Being a rookie... and being a woman.

"You did well."

Elena looked up quickly, blinking. That compliment came from the most unexpected source; Rufus himself. "Sir?"

"In the Crater." Rufus met her gaze. "You did well. Both of you. I'll expect a full report tomorrow morning. Until then, you are all dismissed. Get some rest." He glanced at Reno, a smirk touching his lips. "Whatever sort of rest you wish that to be."

"Even drunken reveling rest?" Reno asked, eyes alight and hopeful.

"As long as your partner accompanies you to make sure you don't do anything stupid, yes." Rufus glanced at Rude, the smirk still on his face.

Rude sighed, but nodded. "Of course, sir. Someone's got to keep an eye on him."

Elena hid a smile. _I swear, Rude's going to have to marry Reno to keep an eye on him. They already share an apartment as it is._

"Goodnight, men." Rufus said, waving a hand. "Tseng, Elena, be in my office by nine."

"Yes, sir." Elena murmured, hearing Tseng echo the answer. She dropped her head as Rufus walked out, her muscles complaining with fatigue. She just wanted to give up and fall over.

"Come on." There was a hand on her arm now. Belatedly, she realized it was Tseng's. This was going to haunt her later. Probably in the form of dreams. Hot, steamy dreams.

"Sir?" She asked, her mind thankfully reacting on instinct, and not blurting _"Gods, you're damned sexy, why don't we go back to your place, strip down and have insane sex in every corner of your apartment?"_ That would have been worse than passing out. Much worse.

"You're exhausted." It must have been obvious; she was too tired to bother hiding it. "I'll escort you back to your apartment."

"I'm fine," she protested, mortified that he was... _coddling_ her like this. "Honestly."

"Elena." His voice was firm. He stole a glance over at Reno and Rude, who were having a one-sided argument about which bar to go to- Reno was arguing, Rude was calmly stating that he didn't give a damn- then glanced back at Elena. "If you feel anything like I do, it's damned amazing you're still on your feet. Come on."

Elena blinked, then allowed him to tug her off with a wave to Reno and Rude, dazed. He had just admitted that he wasn't much better off than she was. She knew what he'd gone through. She could see he was pale and obviously tired, but exhausted? It made sense. Even though he was Wutarian, he was no different than she was.

_Just like me. Tired. Drained. Almost dead._

Gods, they'd come so close. So close to death, and she'd never gotten the courage to tell him how she felt.

She still wouldn't tell him. She never would. She couldn't risk it. It was unprofessional. It was unrequited.

He didn't love her. No one loved her. She was a Turk.

She had to be fine with that.

* * *

Reno had chosen a small, out of the way bar a few blocks from Shin-ra headquarters. It was poorly-lit, but not run-down, and had decent drinks for decent prices.

In other words, cheap beer was cheap there. Rude seriously doubted that his partner could afford anything more. He didn't know _what_ Reno did with his salary, but whatever it was, it left very little for personal pleasures.

Or maybe that was entirely what he spent it on in the first place.

Somehow, the thought of Reno going to a brothel didn't shock him as much as it probably should have. _He_ was extremely conservative with his money, using it only to purchase necessary foodstuffs and pay the rent on their apartment, setting the rest aside for (ha!) retirement. Every so often, he could get Reno to pay his part of the rent, but that was rare. Usually, Reno "compensated" for his half of the rent by taking Rude "out" somewhere (usually a bar, like this one) getting drop-dead drunk and offering to help Rude "work over his tensions".

Rude liked to pretend that his partner was talking about sparring, or picking him up a woman somewhere. He knew that couldn't be further from the truth. Especially since the last time Reno was drunk, he'd succeeded in getting Rude halfway to second base.

His partner was damned sexy.

_Wait. Aren't I supposed to be calm, unflappable and definitely asexual?_

He had told himself, when he first became a Turk, that nothing at all was going to come between him and his duty. Nothing at all; not even the red-headed squirrel that had been assigned as his partner.

Maybe rabbit was a better term. Rabbits were jittery, and yet they were furry balls of sex. Like his partner.

Reno was halfway to blissville already, and Rude had barely had half of his first drink. "I'm tellin' ya, Rude, tellin' ya, it's so great they're alive. Woulda- woulda been hell, just the two of us... Just us..." He leaned on Rude's shoulder, blinking up at him. "Just... the two of us... all... all th' time..."

Rude stared back at him, expression blank, eyes hidden by the sunglasses he always wore. Thankfully; his eyes betrayed his confusion as his expression did not. _What? What is he babbling about? Does he want the two of us to be alone? Hell, no. That is a recipe for disaster. I would do something stupid... like fucking him into a wall... oh, shit._

There was that thought again. It popped up every now and again. So randomly, too. He would be thinking about something completely different- work, dinner, even Rufus Shin-ra, and the thought of "Gee, it'd be nice to fuck Reno into a wall," would simply pop into his head.

_It's the years of celibacy,_ he told himself firmly. _It's just a glitch in the system. I can make this go away._

"You ain't drinkin'," Reno pointed out. "C'n I have all your beers?"

"One of us needs to stay sober," Rude pointed out. "The car's here."

"So I c'n have all your beers." Reno attempted to give him a level, searching look. It ended up looking more glazed and... sexy than anything else.

_Gods, yes, just stop looking at me!_ "Yes, you can have all the beers I won't have," Rude muttered, looking into his beer, and taking another sip. He hated being drunk anyway. That loss of control, the impaired functions and thought patterns, the way his mouth would just open without meaning to and things would just spill out...

"Yay!" Reno actually _clapped_ and flopped back into Rude's lap. "Yer the best, best partner _ever_," he told Rude. "And you are damn sexy."

"Get out of my lap, Reno," he said evenly, counting to ten.

"It's comfy."

"Get the hell out of my lap."

Reno sat up, blinking hazily. "Is something wrong, man?"

Rude hadn't meant for his tone to sound so strained. "I'm fine, Reno. It's been a long week, and I've lost two pairs of sunglasses thanks to you."

"What the hell?" Reno's face was a mask of indignation. "I didn't break your sunglasses, yo!"

"Two pairs," Rude held up two fingers. "Once when you hit me in the face, the other when you were throw into me by one of those little bastards."

"I didn't hit-" Rude tapped the bruise next to his eye where Reno had hit him with his electrified weapon. "-oh. Heh." He rubbed the back of his neck. "What can I say? Accidents happen..." He tilted his head, and reached out to trail his fingers very gently over the injury. "That musta hurt... came close to the temple too, might've knocked you out, if we weren't lucky..." His face screwed up and he downed another beer. "And- and then you could've been _killed_!"

Death was a fact of life to Rude. He'd nearly died too many times to care that much about it. Maybe that was why Reno never set any money aside for later- he knew that he'd probably be dead before he hit anywhere near retirement age.

Turks never lived long. He was surprised that they all had survived for as long as they did. It was a painful fact of life for them all. Serving Rufus Shin-ra was a great honor, but it also came with a great price.

Tseng and Elena's pain only attested to that fact.

He hadn't realized he was brooding until Reno poked him in the arm. The slender man had managed to down two more beers in the time Rude had been thinking about his own mortality. _Holy Hell. He really is insane._ "What?"

"You're ignoring me." Reno said petulantly.

Rude simply stared at him. Anything he would have said would have been completely pointless. Reno was wasted, completely and utterly. He'd had over seven beers now. Rude polished off his one, single beer. "I think that's enough for you."

"I'm not done yet," Reno pointed a finger at him. "You're ignoring me, and you won't sleep with me."

The bartender glanced at them, looking amused. "Shut up and give me something strong," Rude snapped at him.

"Sorry, sir, you've had one beer, and you've already said you're driving this young man home..." It was _not_ his imagination; the bartender looked _smug_. _Reno's been here before. _The question was if he'd set this entire thing up, or if it was a horrible twist of fate.

Rude forced himself to calm down. Only Reno could try his patience like this- only Reno when he'd had half a dozen or more beers anyway. Usually, he could handle his partner's talkative and irritating nature, but Reno was absolutely insufferable while drunk. "You're right, Reno. I won't sleep with you."

Reno looked triumphant, nodding, and looking around as if to say _"See? See how he treats me?"_  
"And why won't you sleep with me?"

"Because you know that I'm not interested." Rude tried to lapse back into his customary silence, as was _safe_ and _well-known_ to him.

"Like hell you're not interested," Reno said, resting his hand on Rude's knee and squeezing slightly. "I know you are... you were so hard last night, when I came out of the shower in a towel..."

Blood rushed to Rude's cheeks, and he coughed quietly, looking down. "Reno, shut up."

"No, no!" Reno pointed at him. "See, I'm _right_, and I made up my mind, tonight we're gonna go home and have crazy sex..."

"Ok, right." Rude looked at the bartender. "Get _him_ something strong."

The bartender's lips twitched upward faintly. "Right."

Reno examined the shotglass in front of him, head tilted. He looked birdlike- and beautifully innocent. Experimentally, his tongue darted out into the glass, licking up some of the liquid, cat-like. Rude groaned as softly as his could, teeth clenched. _Now_ he was hard, of course, and he clenched his fists until his blunt nails bit into the palms of his hands. The pain barely distracted him- he was too used to pain.

Reno, meanwhile, had knocked back the shot and flopped back into Rude's lap, which certainly didn't help his rather large and becoming noticeable problem. "Hey, hey Rude. Rude... guess what?"

"What, Reno?" He prayed his tone didn't sound horribly strangled.

"The- the room's spinning," Reno's voice dropped to a whisper, as if he was trying to tell Rude something confidential, or he didn't want to offend the room. "Maybe- maybe you could tell it to stop, man? It's making me really dizzy, man..."

Rude sighed and looked up at the bartender. "The tab, please." He examined it, sorted out some money, and slapped it down on the bar, leaving more than enough for a generous tip. Anyone who dealt with Reno when he was like this, however indirectly, needed one hell of a compensation. Without waiting to see the man's reaction, he half-picked Reno up, throwing one of the inebriated man's arms over his shoulder, and wrapping one of his arms under Reno's arms, hauling him up and out of the bar.

"Now- now the street's spinnin', man..."

Rude sighed. "You're shit-faced, Reno. Nothing's spinning."

"Nuh-uh. It's spinnin', man."

At least his partner wasn't talking about how hard Rude was anymore. And at least he hadn't seemed to notice his recent problem in that department. "Whatever you say, Reno."

"Yeah, whatever I say, man." Reno nodded, flopping into the passenger seat of the car. "So I say we go back to the place, man, and _do it_."

"Shut up," Rude said, shutting the door and moving around the car. Apparently, Reno had started to respond to his gruff reply to his "order", and hadn't noticed that Rude wasn't in the car. When he opened the door, Reno's eyes were closed, and he was still talking.

"-ain't, fair, man. You're sexy as all hell, an' I ain't even allowed to touch? Just one touch, man, just one, just take off your pants, babe, I will make you feel damned good..."

Rude's hands gripped the steering wheel with almost supernatural strength, and he was surprised it didn't shatter into splinters in his hand. "Shut the hell up, Reno." He kept his voice as emotionless as he could, but that was either a tell, or Reno just knew him better than he thought he did.

"You want it, don't you?" Reno cackled and slid his hand over Rude's thigh as the larger man started the car. "Hell, yeah, you do... Everyone wants me..."

"Yes, that's it, isn't it?" Rude said, glancing at him with an eyebrow raised. "Everyone wants you- except me."

"Pffft." Reno waved a hand. "'kay, not everyone wants me... Tseng don't."

"Neither do I." Rude smacked his hand away from his leg and focused on driving.

"Like hell, man." Reno was unbuckling his seatbelt. He wouldn't have had it on anyway, if he were sober; Rude had strapped him in. "You want me, you're hard and hot for me, and I'm gonna give you what you want..."

Rude burned rubber up to the apartment. Leaving the bar had been a mistake; now he was exhausted and alone with Reno- with a very drunk, extremely seductive Reno. _I am fucked._

Or rather, Reno was going to be fucked, if he didn't shut his goddamned mouth.

Granted, that was probably what Reno wanted... _I have got to stop thinking about this._ Easy enough to say, difficult to do when your partner was palming you through your slacks.

Unable to stop a gasp from escaping him at that, Rude slammed the car to a stop in the parking structure of their apartment building. "Get the hell out of the car, Reno."

"This is as good a place as any," Reno slurred, resting his chin against Rude's leg. "I've never had sex in a car before."

Rude unbuckled his seat belt and got the hell out of the car himself. Moving around to the passenger's side, he hauled Reno out, silently.

"Ohh, you're gettin' all strong on me..." That phrase made absolutely no sense, and it gave Rude a moment to calm down as he pondered it, dragging Reno into the apartment and shutting the door behind him. A few punched buttons and deadbolts slammed home, and they were secure.

"C'mon, man... you know where my room is..." Reno purred in Rude's ear, delicately lipping the edge. Shuddering, Rude gathered up the last of his composure, threw Reno into his room and shut the door, turning and all but sprinting for his own room, slamming and locking his door, then sliding down as his legs became suddenly weak. _Damn_, that was close. Too close.

He couldn't afford to start some sordid relationship with his partner. He seriously doubted that Rufus would understand or approve.

He waited, fully expecting Reno to open the door to his own room, pad across the small living area, and try to get into Rude's room, or at least knock and say something devastatingly sexy what would probably break the last of Rude's tenuous hold on his control, and break his will, causing him to open the door, drag Reno in and strip him down, throw him to the bed and...

_Stop._ He wouldn't fantasize about it. He refused.

But silence came from the living area. Reno didn't leave his room. And Rude was too tense and drained to go check on him. Taking off his suit jacket and shoes, he untied his tie, unbuttoned his shirt, and crawled into bed without another thought.

_I hope he passes out on his side,_ was his last coherent thought, before he slipped into a sleep filled with lidded green eyes, and a low sexy voice, purring encouragement to him.


	2. Zombie

Elena didn't want to stand there a moment more. Rufus had been going over the fine details over the North Crater mission with Tseng for the past hour and a half. What had gone wrong? Why had they fallen into enemy hands? What measures had they taken to secure the area beforehand? What had they done to ensure that the head of Jenova wasn't seen, and was safely removed? 

Then the difficult part began. What had happened after Reno left with Jenova?

Tseng's expression had become stony, cold. His voice was very controlled, over-controlled, toneless, emotionless. The signs of trauma were there, the unwillingness to talk, the tight lines of remembered pain around his eyes. He was hiding it well- Elena could see it, but the partnership of a Turk was very close, often as close as a marriage or closer. If she could see it, Rufus could as well.

Tseng fell silent for a moment, shifting his weight back off his left side, as the memory of something Kadaj had done ached. "I... passed out after that, sir." Tseng's voice was tight with anger and hate now, anger at himself, anger at the clones of Sephiroth, and probably at Sephiroth as well. Hate for his own weakness, for succumbing to the pain and blood loss and leaving his helpless partner to the clutches of Kadaj and his "brothers".

Rufus was silent for a moment, hands laced together, eyes on the desk. He then looked up at Tseng, nodding quietly. "You did well. Thank you, Tseng." His eyes slid to Elena. "After that?"

Elena's spine stiffened and she attempted to delve into the pain-filled memories that she wanted so badly to suppress and ignore. "More of the same, sir." She kept her voice calm and neutral. She was no longer a rookie. It was time to prove it. "Always asking where 'Mother' was. Most of what they did to me, Tseng as already told you." Mentally, she blessed him, thanking him for going over most of what had happened to her. She _did_ feel guilty; Kadaj had delighted in having Loz and Yazoo- if those were really their names- torment her, and forcing Tseng to watch.

"Nothing else, after Tseng fell unconscious." Rufus stated. "No hint that they knew."

"No, sir." Elena said, swallowing. "I... I don't remember much, but I do remember that I never, ever told them anything. Like Tseng." She glanced at him, and was surprised to see his emotionless mask gone, and a grimace of distaste on his face. _Something I said? Did?_ The expression on his face was gone in a second, the moment he realized she was looking at him. It was quickly replaced by a calm, almost encouraging smile. She tried to smile back, and was certain that it didn't last, if it reached her face at all.

"Good." Rufus sat back, frowning, expression distant for a moment. Elena wondered what he was thinking. Was he going to reprimand them? They'd done their duty! Finally, he looked up, calmly, and nodded. "Very good. Thank you, both of you. I've no doubt you both saved thousands of lives or more, mine included." He looked at his desk, then back at Tseng only, and he suddenly looked much younger. "I was... very upset, when they said you were dead."

"We're Turks, sir." Tseng said levelly. "You have no reason to feel sorrow, no matter what happened or happens to us." Elena forced herself to nod in agreement with him.

That earned a small, quiet smile, something that made Elena feel extremely proud of herself, despite the mental and physical pain, exhaustion, and residual weakness. "Excellent. Dismissed, both of you."

"I protest, sir. Reno and Rude are not here." Elena dared to speak up, looking at him.

Rufus scowled now, shaking his head. "Reno's fault, I've no doubt. Still drunk- hungover at the very least."

"We'll stay, sir. We've had plenty of rest for the past week." Tseng took his customary position behind Rufus' left shoulder. "Short of a massive uprising, we can handle anything."

Rufus sighed, and shook his head, but didn't argue. He knew, as well as the other two did, that he needed them- not as badly as he did when the geostigma wracked his body with uncontrollable tremors and unbelievable pain- but they were good, effective bodyguards, and he needed them. "Very well."

Elena saluted. "I'll go patrol, sir." Both Tseng and Rufus nodded, nearly identical nods, and she suppressed laughter at how similar to two were. It would've broken into hysterics anyway, and that was unacceptable.

Some things deserved to be buried in memory, and surface only in barely-remembered nightmares. Some things were better off untouched.

She remembered Tseng's expression once, when Yazoo was... taking his turn at attempting to make her talk. She remembered trying not to scream, remembered looking at Tseng, remembered what he looked like. His face was horribly bruised, cut, a mess of half-congealed blood and the tangled mats of his long black hair. But she knew, she had seen that his expression had been one of incoherent rage.

She leaned against the wall in an empty corridor for a moment, eyes closed. She seemed destined to relive the moments in the North Crater anyway; Rufus' questioning had once again stirred things in her memory she'd thought were gone. She'd _wished_ they were gone.

"_Where is Mother?"_

_Whatever Kadaj and Yazoo was doing hurt, Gods, it hurt. She didn't want to open her eyes and see, because she thought she would pass out. Passing out would be a mercy, but that would mean they would hurt Tseng even more. _

_She would be strong for Tseng. She forced her eyes open to stare over at him. Something snapped in her shoulder, and she gave an odd, choking noise, and she saw Tseng's jaw clench._

_He was angry. She could tell. Angry for her?_

"_Where is Mother!"_

"I don't know." Elena found herself whispering, then shook herself out of the memory.

Had she even said that much? Had she said anything to them? She didn't remember. She was almost certain she hadn't, as she told Rufus. But after Tseng was unconscious, it was all like a bad dream, a blur, something she couldn't fully wrap her mind around.

She shivered- Tseng had been her reason for remaining strong. She wanted to make him proud. She only hoped she had.

He was such an enigma, so foreign, so... exotic. Sexy. _Oh, hell._

That was the other problem. Her mind was so willing to take what had happened between them and romanticize it in some way. She wanted to take the memories and color them in some way, make it less... painful to have them.

She wanted to wake up one day, and remember that Tseng had done something amazing, like... declaring his love for her to Kadaj, or when they woke in the woods, that he held her close, comforting her with gentle, soft words...

Or that they had wild, insane sex the minute they could. Mm, that memory would be especially nice. She closed her eyes, imagining that for just a moment. It was unprofessional, it was childish, and she did not give a damn. She needed something to distract her from her memories, and if it took a stupid, useless fantasy of her crush- _ex-crush!_- seducing her, she would accept that.

She knew exactly how it would work, too. She read romance novels. She was only a woman, after all, women needed release too. And smutty, dime-store novels were a nice distraction for someone with a lot of tension.

_Yes, it'd be wonderful and perfect, and all "Oh, Tseng!" "Oh, Elena!" "Oh, _Tseng_!" "Oh, _Elena_!" Who the hell am I kidding? It'd never be that way. It'll never happen _period_. I should stop this idiotic behavior, and focus on what really matters, like my job._

Her job was what mattered. Even if her job was cold and lonely, she at least had friends. Reno and Rude were amusing, and they _were_ good friends, she thought. They'd probably give her a hand if she needed it.

She felt cold now. She doubted she'd feel warm again for some time. _Tonight, I'll take a hot bath. That will warm me up nicely, and it'll relax me too. ...I hope._

Noises from down the hall made her straighten and peel herself off the wall. There was quite a bit of shouting, which immediately set her on edge. She reached for her gun, stiffening and setting her back against the wall. The moment the target rounded the corner, she would see who it was, and if it wasn't someone she recognized, they'd be heading to the hospital.

Taking a deep breath, she waited, then relaxed as the shouted words resolved into something she could hear _and _make sense of.

"I don't give a fuck _what_ you say, Rude, I am fucking _pissed_!"

Rude's reply was unintelligible, probably because he was speaking calmly, and not screaming his damn fool head off._ Reno_, Elena thought, hiding her laughter. She put away her gun, and calmly waited for the two senior Turks, leaning up against the wall.

This should do for a suitable distraction for a while. _For some time, I should stop thinking about pain, and about Tseng. I definitely need to stop thinking about Tseng. If I don't..._ She shook her head. _I won't let it affect me. I won't let it affect my work._

She wasn't going to let some stupid crush resurface and ruin what she'd built for herself. _Even if it is Tseng._

She turned her attention to the ever-closer indignant shrieks of Reno, and Rude's calm replies. _Oh, yes. This should be interesting._

-

"Fuck you, Rude!"

"I really don't understand why you're so upset."

Reno didn't know either. Fuck him blind, he did not know. He barely remembered last night, only recalling a haze of desire so strong, it had been with him when he'd woken up the next morning. "Yeah? Yeah? Well... well _fuck you_!"

Rude pinched the bridge of his nose, and Reno felt oddly satisfied that Rude now felt just as frustrated as he did. "Yes, Reno, fuck me. Why, may I ask?"

Reno paused, stuck his hands in his pockets and shrugged. "You didn't fuck _me_." He tried for a winning smile.

"Oh, for fuck's-"

"You're late, boys. Not that I expected anything different."

Rude bit off what he was going to say, and nodded stiffly to Elena. The blond looked amused at what she'd interrupted, probably because _no one_ heard Rude swear. Ever. Reno figured he must really be pushing the larger man's buttons. _Why can't I ever push the button marked "Turn On"?_

Elena shook her head, pointing down the hall. "The boss will not be pleased that you were late."

"Well, we'll just tell him we were in the middle of a lascivious shower together when the power went out, so we just went back to bed and screwed half a dozen more times," Reno said flippantly. Rude's hand twitched, like he very badly wanted to smack his partner upside the head.

"There is no "more"," he said tersely. "In fact, there never was _any_."

"I figured, by the way you two were arguing," Elena said dryly, turning away, heels clicking on the floor. Reno snorted. _Busybody._

"Why aren't you guarding the boss?" He asked slyly, hoping to get something incriminating.

"Patrol," Elena said tartly. "Tseng is in with Rufus."

"Ohh, bet that makes _you_ jealous..." Reno latched onto a half-formed idea, and, like always, ran with it. "Who knows which way the boss swings... Maybe he's had his eye on Tseng all along, they've known each other for _years_... Maybe they've had their hands all over each other, all this time, right under our very noses..."

"Shut up," Elena snapped, hands going into her pockets to resist strangling the redhead. "What my partner does with his sex life is his choice, not mine."

"Betcha wish it was your choice," Reno smirked, then ducked as Elena's temper flared and she threw a punch at his head. "Whoa, easy there, killer, can't you take a joke?"

"Fuck you, Reno," she snapped, stalking away to continue her patrol.

Reno raised an eyebrow. "Boy, everyone's in a pissy mood today, huh, partner?"

"Save yourself the trouble, Reno, and let me talk to the boss," Rude told him, moving up to the door. "I think you're still mildly drunk."

"I am _so_ not drunk," Reno protested.

"I should hope not."

Rude snapped instantly to attention. Reno shook his head a bit, rolling his eyes. "Hello, boss."

Rufus had opened the door to his office before Rude had the chance to. He looked calmly at his two errant Turks, Tseng standing behind him, one eyebrow raised. "Did you... have a long night?"

"No," Rude said instantly.

"Not long enough," Reno muttered, sticking his hands in his pockets. Rude shot him a dark look, hidden by his glasses.

"Well, fortunately, Tseng and Elena are here." Rufus gestured slightly, causing Rude to twitch.

Reno noticed the way his partner was standing, too stiff, too at attention. He knew as well as Rude did that his partner never took insults to his abilities lightly. "Uh, but we're here now, too, boss. We sure are... Yep, not going anywhere!"

Rufus looked at Reno as if he'd lost what we left of his mind. "Good, I would hope not."

Rude rubbed his forehead. Reno could practically hear his voice in his head. "_Shut up, Reno, you're not making anything any better."_ "I apologize for being late, sir." He finally said, very stiffly. "I tried to wake up my partner. He was... non-responsive."

"Somehow, that doesn't surprise me," Rufus shook his head. "Next time I give you permission to have... what was it... 'drunken reveling'... I'm going to give you both the day off." His eyes swept between the two Turks, and his lips twitched upwards. "I think that would be best for the both of you."

Rude shifted a bit, impassive as ever. His mind, however, was nothing near calm. _Is he assuming the worst? Does he believe that we screwed like rabbits? Oh, great. This isn't what I needed..._ "Of course, sir."

Rufus looked between them for a moment more, then turned away. "I think we're done here. I don't have anything specific for you two to do at the moment, so take over for Elena. Send her back here to rejoin Tseng."

"Yes, sir." Rude nodded, turning away.

"Sure thing, boss." Reno turned with his partner, glancing back at Rufus for a moment, before wandering out. Rude, shaking his head, followed him.

"D'you think he suspects us?" Reno half-whispered to Rude as they walked quickly away to find Elena.

"What _us_? There _is_ no _us_!" Rude retorted, glancing at him. "There's only your insane imagination. There is no _us_."

"There is _so_ an 'us', _you_ just won't admit it!" Reno poked him in the chest. "You so know it."

"If you poke me again, I'm going to take off your hand." Rude straightened his tie. His partner didn't believe a word of it, and slid a hand along his arm, grinning.

"You wouldn't do that, now would you... partner?" Reno's voice took on that purring quality again. He then watched, head tilted, as Rude made a delightful twitching motion as he suppressed some kind of motion- a shiver, perhaps? Reno's grin only grew wider. _C'mon, fishy fish, take the bait, I know you're not as straight-laced as you want me to believe..._ "You wouldn't do that to poor little old me..."

"You know I would. And I'd probably enjoy it," Rude retorted, his own voice low, _almost_ a growl. The mere sound of it made Reno want to squirm. Hot _damn_, his partner had the sexiest voice on record. He tried, oh, he _tried_ to have that same quality, that same timbre as Rude did, but the only thing he could manage was a soft purr. Rude _rumbled_, and that was _hot_.

_He could run his own phone sex line. He'd make thousands, if not millions... Mmmm. Phone sex with Rude. _

He was about to pose that possibility to the man in question, when he realized that Rude... wasn't there. "What the hell? Hey!" He hurried to catch up to his partner. "Where're you going?"

"To find Elena, as the boss instructed us," Rude said calmly, heading towards where they'd last seen Elena. While it was unlikely she'd still be hanging around there, they'd be able to see where she went.

"Oh, yeah. We're on duty." Reno sighed and raked a hand through his hair. Getting Rude to do _anything_ on duty was impossible. Getting him to do anything _off_ duty was proving to be more difficult than it should be.

_I'm _Reno_, man, doesn't he realize that? Everyone wants a piece of this!_

"Hey, _partner_, is there a reason you're gesturing crudely to your crotch?"

_Oops._ Reno coughed and glanced sideways at Rude. "Oh, yeah, it was... practice."

"For what?" Rude glanced at him, a single eyebrow raised.

"Uh, practice for taunting the enemy?" Reno strove to look innocent- his first mistake. He never looked innocent.

"Uh-huh." Rude shook his head. "Why you need to _practice_ that is beyond me. But then again, you're usually beyond me."

"Hey, I could be all yours, and you know it..." Reno gave him a grin. It was met with a cold glare.

"Don't start that again." He turned his attention back to finding Elena.

Reno sighed; apparently, Rude wasn't in the mood to be teased. He supposed outright seduction was off the list as well. _Man. I have _got_ to figure out how to get him into bed..._

Well, if they were patrolling, he would have plenty of time to think about it, now wouldn't he? Plenty of time to formulate a plan.

He was so busy rubbing his hands together and looking devious, that he didn't even notice Rude and Elena exchanging a few words about his questionable sanity, and even more questionable morals, and Elena's departure down the hall. _This will be the best patrol ever. I'll think of something so brilliant, so flawless, that Rude will have no choice but to bend to my wiles!_

"Victory shall be _mine_!" He exclaimed, pointing a finger into the air.

Rude calmly ignored his partner, who was now beginning to laugh as maniacally as possible. "It's that time of day," he told a very frightened-looking and confused passing secretary. "His blood sugar drops. He needs a cookie and he'll be fine again. Come on, boy." He spoke as if to a dog, dragging the still-cackling Reno out.

The secretary shook her head. "Salary and benefits. Salary and benefits... benefits... dental insurance." She muttered as she hurried away from the two Turks.


	3. Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me

Elena was in hot water up to her neck. Literally. The bath was exactly what she needed to relax the sore muscles and clear her mind. It got rid of the sweat and grime of the day, and made her relax, stilled her mind from the circle it was running in and gave it a break. 

She had made herself a promise, that while she was in the bath, she would not think about Tseng. She would not think about him, or work, or especially the North Crater.

And especially not all three of those combined. She saw them enough in her dreams.

But Tseng kept intruding on her thoughts, as calm and averted as she tried to make them. It was not the ravaged, destroyed Tseng of the North Crater she saw, but the Tseng that helped her practice hand-to-hand today; strong, capable Tseng. Calm, relaxed, almost smiling, yet serious about fighting and enjoying getting to beat up on something or someone. Devastatingly _handsome_ Tseng.

It was fairly safe to say that she'd seen him at his absolute worst, and she still thought he was the most breathtakingly handsome man she'd ever met. Which was bad. Extremely, horribly bad.

_I thought I'd escaped this stupid crush a year ago. _She raked a hand through her hair, sighing. Apparently, she hadn't, and hadn't been smart enough to realize it. _I buried my feelings_, she realized slowly. _I buried them, and thought that that was good enough. But it only took one stupid mistake to bring them back to the surface._

She broke her promise to herself and hung her head. _That stupid mission to retrieve Jenova's head. One damned stupid incident, and it's all over, isn't it? I'm a stupid little girl again, the rookie, reduced to slobbering all over his shoes like a bitch in heat._

She hadn't gotten quite that far yet, thank the Gods, and she was going to make damn sure that she didn't get that bad. Ever. If she did, she was going to instruct Rude to shoot her in the head. Rude liked her, and she liked him. He was calm, stolid, and reliable. If necessary, he would do her a favor.

_Especially if I tell him _why_ he's going me a favor._ Her thoughts, along with her stomach, soured. She'd no doubt that both Tseng and Rufus had known about her crush in the past. She hadn't made much of a secret of it, and even if Tseng was clueless, there was absolutely no way that Rufus was. He _knew_, he knew _everything_, and if she started showing interest towards Tseng once again...

Well. She could only imagine what would happen. _Rufus would probably call me into his office... dress me down... Gods, what if Tseng was there? What if he just... laughs at me? Worse... what if Rufus dismisses me?_

Her throat closed up, and she clenched the sides of the tub in both hands. _I'm a Turk. I can't just... stop being a Turk! I can't- I can't lose my job, I can't, I- it's all I am, I need it..._

She took slow, deep breaths, sinking lower into the tub. _If he dismisses me, I'd kill myself._ The thought didn't scare her anymore, not the way it should have. She'd been too close to death to fear it anymore. What she feared was Tseng's ridicule. His and Rufus', and even Reno and Rude's. They were all... so important to her.

_Tseng._ Her eyes closed and her head fell back against the edge of the tub. She couldn't _stop_. Her mind wasn't in the fight for her dignity and her job... it was busy peeling Tseng's suit off of him and imagining what he felt like over her, under her, inside her...

_Shit._ She gripped the edge of tub again as her body tensed. _Stop that train of thought before you end up getting yourself hot and bothered._

She was calm. She was relaxed. Yes, that's why her hands were latched so tightly onto the tub that her knuckles were snow-white.

_Fuck!_ She stood swiftly up out of the tub, wavering a bit at the rush of blood to the head because of the heat, and wrapped up in a towel. _I need to _stop_. I need to stop now. This is... this is too much, I can't stop, I can't..._

She sat down in the overstuffed armchair- the only piece of furniture in the small living area. Tucking her knees up to her chest, she stared at the floor. _Why? I succeeded before? What the hell is stopping me this time?_

She didn't know. What had happened? Tseng hadn't done a damn thing when they were captured. He'd glared at Kadaj and the others whenever they'd put a hand on her, but she'd done the same to them when they were hurting him. Nothing special there, of course. _I... I care for him, but I wasn't even thinking about that then. He was my partner, a Turk, first. A love second... always._

Before the torment. The beginning. What had happened? _I got between one of them- Yazoo, I think. He was the one with guns. I didn't want him shooting Tseng, that would be a terrible way for him to die... He was- is- so much better a fighter than that... I was hit._ Her hand went to her side. Yazoo had pulled the shot, she was sure of it. _They didn't want dead Turks, they wanted live prisoners._

"_Elena!" _His voice. That's what it was. He had cried out- all but screamed her name. There was desperation there. It was easy to explain away- oh, she was his partner, that _was_ important...

But...

Couldn't there be more to it than that?

Couldn't he have been _frightened_ to lose her? Because he'd never told her something?

Frightened... as she had been frightened to lose him?

_Someday I'll tell him... Someday. Someday I will turn to him, and say "Tseng... I love you."_ "Or if not that," she said aloud, tone wry, "at the very least that I think he's absolutely hot, and I would do him in a second if he offered."

Her phone rang. She jerked in shock, staring at it. It was the ring tone signifying another Turk was calling. She swallowed, then licked her lips. _If it's Tseng, I'll ask him to dinner. _That was simple enough, innocent enough.

Her hands shook, and she picked up the phone. _Calm down, idiot. You've only got a one in three chance of it being Tseng._ Flicking it open, she took a deep breath. "Elena."

"_Yo, babe! You free now?"_

Her body relaxed, hand going to her forehead. "Reno. What the hell do you want?"

"_Aww, someone's not very happy to see me!"_ Reno's tone was as cheerful as ever, and she wanted to strangle him.

"I can't see you," she pointed out, calming down slowly. _It's not Tseng. I can relax._

His next words blew her out of the water. _"You want Tseng, right?"_

Elena's hands clenched onto the phone. "_What_?"

"_You heard me, babe."_ She could see his grin, hovering in front of her face. _"I'm just gonna take that as a yes..."_

"S-so what if I want Tseng?" Elena swallowed, forcing the words out. "What does that matter? I'm not letting it affect me. He's attractive. So are you, so's Rude and yes, so is the boss himself... I don't let any of you affect me!" Her voice was turning hysterical. She forced herself to calm down.

"_Elena, babe, something's affecting you... Relax. Breathe. I don't give a damn if you want Tseng, ok? I don't want him. I don't care if it affects how you work with him, got it? He's your partner. Who the hell cares if you're fucking him? It'd probably be good for you. Not the point. I want Rude."_

Elena did slowly relax, blinking. "Oh. You and Rude... aren't... _already_ together?"

"_You know, you wouldn't believe that you're not the first person to say that." _Reno's voice was extremely dry. _"Once again, not the point. No, we're not together. Not for lack of me trying. He's totally oblivious, and it's driving me _insane_!" _

Elena didn't doubt that it did. His voice was strained, less flippant than she'd ever heard it, and somehow that frightened her. "Ok, calm down, Reno..."

"_Fuck that, Elena! Think about the position I'm in. How would _you_ be if you were _living with Tseng_ and you saw him come out of the shower_ every day_ and he's always _half naked_!"_

Elena paused, eyes glazing over for a moment as the image crossed her mind. "...in a towel?"

"_Yes, in a goddamned fucking towel! Why the fuck- stop daydreaming!"_

"Right, sorry!" Elena hastened to refocus on Reno, and not the tantalizing mental image of her half-naked partner. Reno's problems first, fantasies later. Yes.

"_Gods, you're easy to lose."_ Pot calling kettle, if anyone asked her. _"Anyway, I need help. I have tried _every _idea I have. The only ideas I haven't tried so far is getting injured and having him take care of me, and also getting him drunk. Because the bastard won't get drunk! One beer, _maybe_ two! That's all. I need something... please, Elena, you've got to help me..."_

Elena shook her head. "You've got it bad."

"_You're one to talk."_

He had a point. "Well... have you tried just _talking_ to him?"

"_..."_ The silence on the line told her exactly what she needed to know.

"I see."

"_I can't do that..."_

"Why not?" Elena raised an eyebrow, sitting back against the chair. "What are you afraid of?"

"_I'm not afraid!"_ The retort was too fast. He was definitely afraid. _"Why should I be afraid?"_

"Well, to start with, Rude is a hell of a lot bigger than you, probably stronger, maybe faster, possibly smarter... Definitely better with a weapon, more professional, and actually knows how to _use_ his weapons..." Elena ticked off the points on her fingers, holding the phone to her ear with her shoulder.

"_Shut up."_

Well, that might have had a bit to do with it. Elena decided to enter more dangerous waters. "Then there's the possibility of you becoming attached, and him denying you, or leaving you in some way..."

Dead silence on the other end of the line for just a second, just long enough for Elena's suspicions to be totally confirmed. _"Ha, that's stupid! That's a girly reason! I'm not scared! I don't want 'commitment'!"_

"Yes, you do." Elena pointed out. "You hesitated. Are you really that afraid of being hurt? I don't think Rude would do that to you. If he wants to be with you, he won't play with you. He doesn't seem to be that kind of guy..."

"_I am not goddamned afraid, Elena!"_

"Fine." Elena snorted. "Then I can't help you. Go pounce on him in the shower or something. See what I care."

"_..."_

Uh-oh. That silence was bad. "Reno, is Rude at the apartment right now?"

"_Yeah, babe, he's in the shower. I owe you one. Peace!"_

"No, Reno, don't! Stop, trust me, he'll-" Dial tone. "Dammit!" She hung up and smacked her forehead with the heel of her hand. _Never, ever, ever suggest something stupid to Reno. Because then he'll do it. Poor Rude._

She was going to have to talk to Rude tomorrow and apologize. She had no idea if he would ever find out that she... _suggested_ it to Reno, but if he did, she figured that he wasn't going to be pleased. And she figured he wouldn't find out that she hadn't _meant_ to encourage Reno to molest Rude in the shower.

...that was almost a pretty image. Tseng would be pretty in the shower.

_Son of a bitch. _She poured herself a glass of wine. _I'll get good and drunk, and see if that helps anything._ She only hoped it did.

* * *

Rude was enjoying his shower. Reno was staying the hell away, which was wonderful, and the hot water was soothing.

_I can't believe the boss thought we'd... does he really think we're that unprofessional?_ He thought about Reno, then sighed. _Ok, Did he really think that _I_ was so unprofessional?_

Never mind the fact that he _wanted_ Reno... and badly. Last night had been too close. If Reno had tried to get to his room after Rude and locked himself in... Gods, he wouldn't have been able to resist.

He leaned his forehead against the wall, eyes closed. Reno could be annoying and loud and stupid... but he could be so sexy, and so seductive... He just seemed to know what to say or do that would arouse Rude in seconds flat, no matter what. Especially when he was drinking.

_Gods, I'm pathetic._ He rubbed his head, letting the hot water cascade down his back. _Maybe... maybe I should..._ He touched his own chest, fingers flicking lightly over his nipples. Shivering despite the hot water, he stopped, shaking his head. _No. I don't need this. I'm just fine. I do _not_ have sexual tension because of my partner._

The bathroom door opened. Rude froze, and slowly reached for the nearest weapon, the straight-razor he shaved with. Whoever it was moved close to the shower, and Rude pretended to be oblivious, back to the curtain.

"Don't stab me, partner," came the purr, and the curtain was pulled back, and slender arms wrapped around his waist.

Rude's mind shut down, and he stood stiff, unmoving, stunned. The razor was held at his side, and he couldn't raise it. Reno was the one holding him. Apparently shirtless, at that. _Oh, Gods._ "Reno. Reno, what...?"

"Mm, what? Am I not being clear enough? I sure thought this was going to send a pretty clear message." Rude felt Reno's lips against his neck, and he closed his eyes. "Drop the razor, Rude... you're gonna love this. Trust me."

Rude shuddered. _No. I can't do this. I can't._ "Stop it, Reno..."

"Why?" Reno purred, nuzzling him gently. His hands slid along Rude's abdomen, then down his hips, slowly inching inward to wrap around his partner's rapidly-hardening erection. "You sure feel like you're enjoying this..." He stepped into the shower, pressing closer to Rude, kissing his neck. "I'm enjoying it too..."

"Are you drunk?" Rude shivered, eyes half-closing. The razor fell from his seemingly-nerveless fingers.

"Nope, sober as I've ever been," Reno murmured, freeing one hand to reach up and turn Rude's head to face him. "I want you."

Rude stood there, staring at him for a moment. His eyes were unveiled, and he met Reno's gaze unblinkingly. "I want you." Reno repeated, slowly, hands sliding up Rude's chest. Twisting around somehow, he managed to press his lips quickly to Rude's.

The kiss was what galvanized Rude into action. He shoved Reno away, overbalancing the younger man and sending him flying out of the shower. Smacking his head on the toilet on the way down, Reno hit the ground hard and lay there, stunned.

Rude froze, staring down at his half-conscious and bleeding partner. "I..."

"Sorry, man..." Reno slurred. "Shoulda listened when y'said no... just wanted to try to show you... that... it'd be fun, you know?"

"No, I'm sorry." Rude quickly knelt down beside him, heedless now of his nakedness. "I overreacted."

"You said no, man." Reno started laughing weakly. Rude checked his eyes, and sighed when he saw one pupil was slightly larger than the other. _Concussion._ "Shoulda yelled rape." The laughter increased until Reno was all but convulsing with it.

Sighing, Rude shook his head and sat back. "Hold on, Reno, don't move." Moving over to the phone, he quickly punched a number and glanced at Reno again.

"_Tseng."_

"I have a problem. Reno... fell. He's got what appears to be a mild concussion. I'm of the opinion that we should take tomorrow off to make sure he recovers." Rude trusted Tseng. The senior Turk wasn't an idiot, and he probably knew all about Reno's... insanity.

"_...by 'we', I assume you mean yourself and Reno. I'll inform Rufus."_

"Thank you." Rude relaxed faintly, nodding. "I don't think he requires hospitalization."

"_If he does, take him to the Healing Lodge."_ Tseng sounded tired; Rude shifted, glancing at Reno again.

"Understood, sir. With all due respect, get some rest."

"_Eh? Ah. Yes. Goodnight, Rude."_

"Goodnight, sir." Rude hung up, and turned to look at Reno. "How do you feel?"

"Shitty, man." Reno was no longer laughing. His voice was hoarse, and he tried to sit up. Rude stopped him as gently as he could.

"No, don't. Lay back."

"Gotta get up, man, I'm not staying here on the damn bathroom floor all night." Reno tried to get up again and his eyes crossed. He sat back down hard. "Ok... I'll wait a bit to get up... yeah."

Rude sighed and carefully picked Reno up, carrying him to his room. Reno's was a mess, and the last thing they needed was for Rude to fall and hurt himself as well. Once in his room, he gently lay Reno on the bed, sighing. "I am sorry," he said honestly. "I'm sure you're going to be all right."

"What's a few brain cells between friends?" Reno slurred.

"Considering how much you drink, a few may be all you have," Rude muttered, making sure he was as comfortable as he could be.

"Mmmhmm hehe." Reno laughed weakly, and settled back. "I'm dizzy, man. 'Slike bein' drunk, only I'm not buzzed."

"You've never had a concussion before?" Rude raised an eyebrow. He himself had lost count of the number of concussions he'd had at twenty.

"Sure, I've had tons. But they've been during fights, so..." Reno shrugged slowly, eyes closing. "I had bigger things to worry about, ya know?"

"I know." Rude sighed, touching Reno's shoulder. "You shouldn't sleep."

"Yeah, yeah, 'cause I might not wake up. Fuck that." Reno didn't even bother opening his eyes. "I'm going to sleep."

"I'll wake you up every hour on the hour, then." Rude settled back, flicking on a dim lamp and opening a book.

"Do that, and I'll kill you," Reno muttered, relaxing. He was out almost instantly, every muscle in his body relaxing, and he started to snore very softly.

"Heh." Rude smiled faintly, setting his book aside. He hadn't bothered putting his sunglasses back on, and he took the chance to observe his partner in a rare moment of silence and stillness. Reno was never silent, nor still. He was like a small child, that had been given an eternal IV-drip of sugar. Always moving, always active to the point of _hyper_-activity. He had little patience for anything but a fight.

Or, it seemed, Rude.

_I wouldn't call that patience, really. More like... stubbornness._ Rude was doing his damnedest not to show interest, yet Reno persisted.

Granted, the shower had almost certainly stopped Reno from thinking that he wasn't interested. If he had ever thought it before. Rude rubbed a hand across his eyes, looking once again at Reno's still, calm face. _He's... beautiful like this._ He didn't even try to stop the thought. Sighing, he turned off the light and settled back in the small chair.

_I don't know what I'm going to do. I'll have to talk to him... I have to work this out._

Even if it meant, he supposed, admitting a few things to himself. _We'll see... we'll see._

_

* * *

_A/N: Review, please? Pretty please? Thanks, yo.


	4. Through the Eyes of Love

Rufus Shin-ra was an incredibly patient man. He had to be, to put up with idiots like the ones on his executive board. Not to mention the morons of the other companies he dealt with. And then there were the fools on his own staff. 

_Reno._ "Slipped and fell" in the shower, oh, he was just _sure_ of that. Certainly he wasn't doing anything stupid. Certainly not, he wasn't that kind of man, now was he? He wouldn't be hurt attempting to seduce his partner, or in the process of doing something _unspeakable_ with his partner, now would he?

Of course not.

Rufus had to stop thinking in such sarcastic terms. It was starting to leak into his tone for the meeting.

If his partner hadn't been Rude, he'd have suspected the excuse as false, a reason to stay home and play around. However, as... besotted as Rude was, that was unlikely. He knew his duty, and he was always a Turk first and foremost. Had Rufus called him and instructed him to come to work, he would come.

Reno probably would as well. As... unconventional as he was, he was a loyal man. A good fighter. A good Turk.

He didn't begrudge either of them a day off. They'd both worked hard while Tseng and Elena had been incapacitated. However, this hadn't been a good way to get it.

_I do have to wonder what happened. I'll ask Rude tomorrow. I know he'll tell me the whole thing._ Most of it, if not all, anyway. He was certain that, if anything at all sexual _had_ happened, Rude would gloss over those details.

That was, of course, if Rude had finally allowed something to happen. Rufus had known for some time that the stoic Turk had been fighting his feelings for his partner. Reno knew it too, obviously on some subconscious level, and that's what kept him poking at Rude, whittling down his defenses until there was something that Reno could work with.

And who knew? Maybe he had arranged it so he would fall and bash his head on something hard. It really wouldn't surprise Rufus. Reno would go to great measures to get something he wanted, if he wanted it badly enough.

The question was, as always, if it was good enough to break through Rude's admittedly thick skull. For some reason, the man simply _was not_ responding to Reno's advances. Or, if he was, he'd managed to convince Reno not to show it.

Somehow, he doubted that. Reno could barely disguise his moods as it was. If he was getting sex on a regular basis, he wouldn't be able to hide it for very long, if at all. Rude would be able to hide it; Reno, definitely not.

So. Nothing had happened. Yet. Pity, he could've used something to brighten his day. Perhaps now, with this day off they'd been given, something would happen.

And then there was the other pair to consider. He dismissed the executives with a smirk and a nod, and blessed his ability to think about many things at once, while still paying attention to what the fools were talking about.

Tseng and Elena. What was he going to do about them? He'd known that Elena had had feelings for Tseng a few years ago, when she had first become a Turk. He'd been amused and pleased at first, when she'd apparently gotten over her crush on him, and matured, moving on.

Then, however, she'd never shown interest in anyone else. Rufus knew that she was still infatuated, or possibly even in love, with Tseng, even now.

It seemed that the events following the disastrous mission to retrieve Jenova's head had stirred something between them. Tseng had been glancing more often in Elena's direction. Elena had _not_ been looking at Tseng except to speak to him. _Something_ had happened.

Rufus bored easily; the job of the President of Shin-ra Corporation amused him much of the time, but at times, he needed something _else_. Matchmaking seemed entertaining. It would involve detective work, possible interviews...

And, best of all, he didn't have to go anywhere for it. He could simply sit back, and watch the drama as it unfolded. _Better than a show._

Chuckling very quietly to himself, Rufus sat back, lacing his fingers together and resting his elbows on the desk. Well, the first order of business was closer observation than he'd done before. He simply had to find out what was going on behind the scenes, and what was going on in Tseng and Elena's heads. It shouldn't be too difficult. With Tseng, he would watch, observe, and then simply _ask_.

Tseng was the epitome of a Turk. He would answer without hemming and hawing, as Rude might. And he would leave out no details. Rufus' eyes half-closed. Failing at that, well, Tseng and Elena were partners. There was surely something he could do with that.

This could keep him amused from some time. Between Reno and Rude, and Tseng and Elena, he had plenty of tasks ahead of him to keep his mind busy. His hope was that this day off that he had permitted Rude to keep an eye on his concussed partner would be a catalyst for him. Rude was halfway to collapse as it was.

Tseng was going to be a challenge. Most likely, if he could get Elena to crack, or Tseng to proposition her, she would buckle instantly. That was his assumption, anyway. And he knew that assumptions were dangerous things. But Tseng...

Sometimes being a Turk was not a good thing. He denied himself too much, Rufus knew that. It was his duty, as his leader, to make certain that all his men were carefully balanced and content.

A healthy sex life would certainly help with that. And, just perhaps, he really _cared_ for Elena. It would certainly explain his behavior recently. He was trying too hard to keep himself from betraying _something_ about her, or about how he felt about her. Rufus wanted to know what that was.

He had to learn what it was. He would soon enough. He, too, could be extremely stubborn about something when he wanted to be. And unlike Reno, he was much, much more subtle about it.

After all, he had to repay the men and woman who served him so loyally and well with something. Why not each other? Especially if it was what they really wanted. As long as they remained his Turks, and served him with the same, unswerving loyalty they did this day, he wouldn't mind a damn bit what they were doing.

This would be more fun than he originally thought. Chuckling quietly to himself, he turned his attention fully on the paperwork on his desk.

_All the time in the world, as well. All the time in the world._

-

Tseng's accuracy with a pistol was absolute. He had trained for years to be as good as he was now. While he knew he was not at the same level as his boss, that was partially due to the experiments the man had been subjected to as a boy. He would never be able to fire what amounted to a sawed-off shotgun with one hand and be able to stand the recoil. Let alone while falling from a ten-story building.

Had Rufus jumped because he knew they were there, or had he simply wanted a more glorious obituary than "blown to bits by a Sephiroth remnant"? Tseng hadn't asked. He wasn't sure he wanted to know.

Practice was good. It distracted him, kept him from wondering. It kept his mind active, and away from his partner. The partner he should _not_ have feelings for. He should be beyond that, why wasn't he?

Why was he suddenly seeing her differently? Why did he suddenly look at her... and realize how he felt, how he cared for her...

Desired her.

_Bam. Bam. Bam._

Three shots off-center. Tseng cursed under his breath and lowered the pistol. _No._

This was exactly what he'd feared would happen. She was distracting him, confusing him, dulling his edge.

_How much of that is the fact that you're denying yourself what you want most?_ The voice in his head- which always sounded like Rufus to him- murmured. He shivered and unloaded the gun, sitting down to clean it.

_I deny myself nothing,_ he told himself firmly. _I don't need her. I don't want her._

_You're lying. You know you are. You want her. You've wanted her for a while. Aeris is long gone, and you know that. You've known for some time, and it's only natural. She stood by you, she's been your partner for over two years... Things change. People change. The way you see people change._

Tseng rubbed a hand over his face. _I don't see her that way. I've given up on women._

_Like hell._

Tseng stood, shoving the empty gun into its holster. _It's the truth._

_No it's not._

"It's the truth." Tseng growled aloud.

"You know, arguing with yourself is a sign of mental illness..."

Tseng jerked a bit and turned, smoothing his expression to one of calm impassiveness. "Hello, Elena." _I suppose telling her that I hear a voice like Rufus Shin-ra in my head wouldn't help..._

"What were you doing in here?" Elena moved away from the door.

"Practicing." Tseng gestured a bit. "I'm a bit rusty in some areas."

"Could you spot for me?" Elena took out her own pistol. "My arm still isn't the same after North Crater."

Tseng shivered faintly, though it was barely noticeable. "Of course. Still need to hold two-handed?"

_That sounds dirty._

_Shut up_, Tseng told the smug voice in his head. _I meant it in a completely innocent way. _Though now, of course, that it was mentioned, it did sound incredibly inappropriate. _I wonder if she likes that kind of foreplay. Dammit!_

Elena was taking off her jacket, oblivious to Tseng's well-hidden discomfort. She seemed to be taking the comment completely innocently. "Yes, unfortunately. I'm..." she sighed, glancing at him a little. "I'm not sure it'll ever be the same."

_I know what you mean._ Tseng's hand touched the pale scar along his left cheek. "That's fine. Stance doesn't matter. Accuracy does."

Elena nodded silently, giving him a faint smile. "All right, let's get started." She took out her pistol, pointed at the target, and started firing.

Tseng watched quietly, his eyes more on Elena than on her performance. _Look at her. Beautiful. Strong. _

Elena blew a stray lock of hair out of her face and sighed, lowering the gun. "I don't think I'm getting any better."

"Let me see." Tseng moved behind her, examining the target. One or two shots had hit quite close to dead center, but her accuracy was shot. "Here. I think you're holding it wrong for sustained shooting." He put his arms around her, unthinkingly, adjusting her grip and aim. "It's fine for one shot, but after that, it's all over the place. Here... Keep your good arm like this... try it now." Unconsciously, his voice had dropped a little, and he kept his hands on her arms.

Seemingly calm, Elena fired the gun, straining to keep her arms exactly as he'd instructed. "Better," Tseng murmured, keeping a hold of her for a moment longer. _Gods. She's all but in my arms..._ His eyes closed, and he stood for a moment longer, just one more moment, before pulling away quickly. "Much better. Now try it again, without me."

She shifted her weight, looking away from him. "Right." She focused on the target, away from him, and started firing again. Her attention diverted, he backed up again. _Gods. Gods, Gods, stop it, stop tormenting me._

_Why are you bothering to fight it? Hmm? You want her... Just ask her!_

Tseng watched Elena, who was cursing her arm and her gun and the target, and reloading. "Calm down. Getting angry won't help you at all." She blushed faintly and muttered something along the lines of "Yes, sir," and went back to practicing.

_She won't agree. She'll say no. And that will affect our working relationship._

He just knew that. No matter how much he wanted her, he couldn't strain their partnership. She'd had a crush on him once, but that was gone. _Gods, how ironic. Now I'm the one with the unrequited lust._

Yes, lust. That's all it was, of course. Lust and nothing but. Desire, left over from a near-death experience. If he was anyone else (oh, _Reno_ came to mind...) he would go out, find a woman and get rid of the itch.

_But you're not Reno, are you? You're a loyal, one-woman kind of guy. You've already got your eye on someone, don't you? Her. Why the hell are you still fighting this? She had a crush on you once, she'll do it again, soon enough..._

Tseng shook his head sharply. As wonderful as that voice painted the world, it was wrong. Elena had no feelings for him whatsoever. And he wouldn't jeopardize what they had.

_I am a Turk first. Always._

He continued to watch Elena with only an occasional comment about her performance. _If you do care, Elena, show me. Tell me... do something._

She did nothing but shoot. He did nothing but watch.

_I'm sorry, Elena._


	5. Blue Monday

Reno's head ached. That was the part about concussions that he kept forgetting about- the headache afterwards. Usually, he was in the middle of something important, like fighting for his life, or not dying, or doing some important but mind-numbing mission for Shin-ra. 

No, this time, he was lying flat on his back, staring at the ceiling. And his head fucking _pounded_.

Rude, the one, sole object of his desires, sat calmly next to him, doing some kind of word puzzle. A crossword, maybe. He was more or less ignoring his partner for the time being. "Ruuuuuuuude."

"What?" The other man didn't move.

"I'm bored."

"What's an eight-letter word for 'sinful' that ends in 'd' and has the second letter 'e'?"

Oh, that wasn't funny. "I am _not_ doing crossword puzzles with you, man."

"Why not?" Rude looked at him now, impassively. "It'll keep you awake, and keep your mind busy."

"Dude, my mind is busy enough recovering from the way you smashed it into the toilet, got it?" Reno rubbed his forehead, firmly telling his brain to _stop hurting_. He didn't care if it was bruised or not. He had planning to do!

Rude sighed. "That _was_ an accident, Reno. I apologized."

"Yeah, yeah." Reno crossed his arms and sulked. _Now what am I gonna do? How can I convince you that it'd be great to set everything aside for a few hours and just... play around?_ "Man, my head hurts. You owe me."

"I'll buy you dinner sometime." Rude didn't look up.

"No, man, you _owe_ me." Reno tried to sit up, groaned as that made his head hurt even more, and slumped back. "Distract me, man."

"I tried that, you didn't want to do crossword puzzles." Rude glanced at his partner, a faint smirk touching his lips now.

Reno glared at him. "That's not _funny_, man." He rubbed his forehead, then let his arm flop back to the bed. "I'm all dizzy and sore... it's getting dark in here..."

Rude sat up and looked at him. "Are you trying to screw with my head, Reno?"

_Believe me, Rude, that's not what I want to screw..._ "No, not at all..." Reno grabbed for his hand, overacting when the movement made his head ache slightly. "Ohh, I just need _something_..."

"Painkiller," Rude muttered, starting to stand up.

"...yeah, that'd be nice." Reno had to admit that, rubbing his forehead. "But not enough..."

Rude was already moving, getting him a couple of pills and small cup of water. "I'll get you something to eat, as well."

Reno immediately seized onto that idea, grabbing Rude's wrist, along with the pills and water. "Ohh, that'd be nice..." He took the pills quickly, gulping them down. _These things better take effect soon, I think I'm onto something here..._

Rude frowned, tugging lightly at his wrist. "Good, now let me go so I can get you something."

"You don't need to go anywhere, _partner_," Reno purred, tugging on his wrist.

"Obviously, I do, if you want something to eat. It'd be good, anyway. You haven't eaten all day." Rude tugged on his wrist a bit harder. "Let me go."

"Mm, maybe I didn't make myself clear..." Reno slowly sat up, ignoring the pain at his temples. "I don't want to eat _food_... I think _you'd_ be a much tastier snack." His other hand trailed up Rude's arm. "C'mon, it'd be fun..."

Rude twitched, that delicious twitch that he always got when Reno was touching him. _That's right, babe, fight against it all you want, but you can't deny it, can you? You want me, yeah, you do, and you're gonna give in today, tonight, doesn't matter. Soon, you will... I've got all day to work on you now._

"Let go of me, Reno," Rude finally said, and Reno was delighted to hear his partner's voice so deep and strained.

"Why?" Reno purred, eyes half-closing. _Close... yeah, we're close..._

Rude jerked away as Reno leaned in to nuzzle him. "That's enough. You're injured- knock it off."

Reno snickered. "Aww, what's the matter? Afraid of hurting little ol' me? Don't be... I'll top, and that'll make sure I don't bang my head against anything..."

"_No_." Rude said firmly, standing up. "I am _not_ interested."

"Liar." Reno murmured, pouting. "I know you're interested. Why else would you be fighting me so much?"

Rude just stared at him, then turned on his heel. "I'll make you some soup."

"Arrrg, what the hell's the _matter_ with you!" Reno punched the bed. "I don't _want_ soup! I want _you_! What the hell's so hard to understand about that?"

"We _can't_, Reno!" Rude's composure finally cracked, and his fists clenched at his sides. "What's so hard to understand about _that_?" He turned away, taking a few deep breaths, and straightening his tie. "We can't."

"Why not?" Reno clenched his own fists, gathering the bedsheets in his hands. "Why the hell not, Rude? What's stopping you? What the _hell_ is making you play games with me?"

"I'm not playing any games!" Rude shot back, turning to face him. "I've never led you on!"

"You've flirted with me before!" Reno pointed a finger at him. "Don't deny that much!"

Rude fell silent, and Reno knew he had him there. "You have," he continued, crawling slowly over the bed towards him. "You fucking _have_, Rude, now stand there and tell me you don't want me... stand there and fucking _tell me_ that you don't need me..."

Rude's mouth opened silently for a moment, then shut without saying anything. Reno crouched on the bed now, staring at him, trying to see past the shades into his eyes. "Say it," he murmured. "Say it if it's true..."

"We can't," he finally said. "I can't. Don't you understand that? The boss..."

"What the boss doesn't know, won't hurt him..." Reno beckoned a bit. "We can keep a secret, Rude. C'mon."

"Are you kidding?" Rude glanced at him. "You'd never be able to keep it a secret."

Reno's eyes flicked around slightly. "So? So he finds out. What's the worst he does? Reprimand us?"

"Fire us." Rude shook his head. "I refuse to take that chance."

Reno punched the bed, causing a spring to break in the mattress. "Fuck that, Rude! We're still Turks. What we do on our own time doesn't have a damned thing to with Shin-ra! If I, right now, tore your pants off and commenced to suck you off, it would _not_ have any effect on Shin-ra! ...unless he has cameras hidden in our apartment. In which case, he's a pervy bastard who deserves a show."

Rude smacked the heel of his hand into his forehead. "Stop changing the subject."

"What, is it distracting you?" Reno carefully stood up, pleased that the majority of his dizziness was gone. "Thinking about me, on my knees?" He let his voice drop to the low purr he only used for Rude. _Special, baby, even if you don't know it yet..._ "You want that?"

Rude twitched and closed his eyes. "Reno..."

"I'm not giving up," Reno warned him, moving slowly closer. "You should know me enough for that by now... I see something I want, and it's mine... You're mine now..."

"I don't belong to anyone," Rude growled, causing Reno to shiver in delight. _Shit, need to get him to use that tone more often..._

"Mmm, whatever you say, partner... But in a way, we both belong to Rufus Shin-ra..." He licked his lips, and "tripped", falling against Rude's chest. "And to each other. C'mon, Rude. Live a little." He slid his hands up along Rude's chest, starting to undo his tie. "Let me show you something."

Rude's entire body was so tense, Reno was surprised he wasn't splitting apart at the seams. He undid the tie and started on the first few buttons of Rude's shirt, pleased that he wasn't pushing him away. "You'll enjoy it."

Rude stood silently for a long moment. "You..."

"All me, partner," Reno purred against his neck. "All me. If we get in shit, and someone's gonna get busted, you blame me."

"No." Rude grabbed his shoulders, and Reno stared up at him, letting the desperation show in his face. _Don't push me away. Please._

"No," Rude dropped his voice to a quiet rumble. "We're in this together."

Reno barely had time to let that register, before Rude took off his sunglasses, threw them to one side, and kissed him. _Holy shit. Holy- I did it. I _did_ it! _His hands clenched in Rude's shirt, and he responded quickly to the kiss.

Rude shuddered, the last holds on his control shattering. The bed was mere feet away, and he backed Reno towards it. "So that's all I have to do to shut you up, hmm?" He chuckled lowly, moving to unbutton Reno's shirt. "I'll remember that."

"Shut up, man, you've never complained before this, and-" Reno's knees hit the bed, and before he knew it, Rude was straddling him, pinning him down. He got Reno's shirt fully open, and took a moment simply to observe. "-and you're taking _way_ too long..."

"I know what your wardrobe is like," Rude smirked, tweaking one of Reno's nipples, making him groan. "You can't afford for me to rip off your clothes in a fit of lust."

"Oh, but you- aah, fuck- know you want to..." Reno's head fell back against the bed, neck arched as Rude's hand wandered across his chest. "You've wanted to for a- a while..."

"Hmmph." Rude leaned down, face centimeters from Reno's. "Stop talking." He kissed Reno again, and this time, Reno was more than ready. His tongue slid past Rude's lips, and his hands finally worked Rude's shirt free from his pants, and finished undoing the buttons.

"The hell did you get all dressed up for, man?" He panted, the moment Rude broke the kiss. "We weren't going anywhere..."

"Didn't I tell you to stop talking?" Rude rumbled, settling himself over Reno, resting his weight on one arm. "Besides, what if the boss called me in...?"

"He'd better not..." Reno started, then broke off into a moan as Rude lightly pressed his free hand to his crotch. "I get it, shut up, right..." Breathlessly, he closed his eyes, fingers digging into Rude's back.

Rude pulled back and took his own shirt completely off, starting to fold it up to set it side. Reno tore it from his hands and threw it aside. "Hands- back on me- NOW."

Rude laughed quietly and took both his wrists in one hand. "Patience."

"No, goddammit, I waited _way_ too long for you!" Reno struggled, arching up against Rude, rubbing teasingly. "Either get naked _now_, or just open up the pants and we're there!"

Rude groaned and pulled back, hands working quickly at his belt. "Right, right..."

Reno could hardly believe that he'd finally gotten through to him. He watched as the belt was undone, then the button. His hands slid towards Rude's hands, without even realizing it. _Want to touch, want to touch..._

Rude's eyes half-closed, and he pulled away entirely to get his pants entirely off, underwear following suit. Reno sat up, eyes dragging over Rude's now-nude form. He whistled. "Damn. Get back here."

"In a minute," Rude said, leaning over and undoing Reno's belt. "I can't do anything with you half-dressed."

Reno arched his hips up, making it easier for Rude to slide the pants down, then off. Purring, he smirked as Rude trailed his eyes over his body. "Good, good, now we're moving right along... Aren't you glad I convinced you to do this? I promise, you're not gonna regr-eeh." His head fell back as Rude, apparently deciding that he had to try something new to shut his partner up, wrapped a hand around his cock and gave a single smooth stroke. "Shit."

Everything else seemed to happen so fast. It didn't seem nearly long enough, though it was certainly pleasureable enough. Reno knew that he was going to have to do this again, over and over, yes, so many times, again and again and again, and just as everything when startlingly white, he almost whispered something that he would've regretted. 

He lay there, blissfully unaware of Rude's growl, or of the feeling of the larger man reaching his own release. He finally "woke up" as Rude's arms gave out and he slumped down against him. "Mm." Talking was still somewhat beyond him. He simply wrapped his arms around him, holding him close.

"Wow." It was Rude who broke the silence. Reno chuckled and nuzzled him sluggishly. "Perhaps I was wrong to... deny this for so long."

"Heh, now you're talkin', babe." Reno found his voice, purring. "You'll listen to me from now on, won'tcha..."

"In some respects." Rude shifted back, and settled to one side, arms wrapping around the redhead tightly. "Not in all. But in some. That was... very nice."

"It was fucking incredible," Reno corrected him, curling around him, purring. "You know it. You loved it."

"Mm, I won't deny that." Rude's eyes closed, and Reno took a moment just to look at him, admire his face, admire his body, everything about him.

_All mine. All _mine_, man. All mine to touch, to taste..._ He shivered, and his mouth literally watered for a moment. "Hell, yeah," he muttered.

"Hmm?" Rude opened one eye and blinked at him. "What're you going on about now?"

"Mm, just what we're gonna do later." Reno purred, trailing one finger around his chest. "I'll show you when you're recovered..."

Rude snorted, kissing him lightly. "Mm, good, hopefully it'll shut you up again."

"Hmph." Reno, with no other options, bit Rude's nose. That earned him a raised eyebrow, and a low growl. Shivering, Reno smirked and nuzzled to him. "Mm, there, better." He yawned, stretched.

"How's your head?"

"Hmm? Oh." Reno blinked; he hadn't even been thinking about it. "It's fine, I guess. Doesn't hurt anymore. Heeeey, we should suggest that to the boss! The cure for a concussion is sex..."

"I doubt he'll buy it," Rude said quickly. "Why don't you rest. I'll get something to eat." He tugged Reno a bit closer, eyes half-closing again. "...eventually."

Reno chuckled; he felt warm and safe, and extremely content. "Sure. Later." His eyelids felt heavy, and he let them close. _Finally. This is so nice, this is exactly what I wanted. Now I need to keep him, keep him mine and no one else's. _That might not be so hard, especially if Rude wanted to stay with him.

_I hope so. _The sex was incredible- and that was only the first time. He wanted more than once; he wanted a whole bunch of times. Hopefully an uncountable number of times. Over a very long time.

_Whoa. Shit._ Elena was right. He _did_ want commitment. He _did_ want a long-term, meaningful relationship.

Or, at the very least, he wanted a long-term relationship with a lot of sex. _Lots of sex. Mm, really good sex._ If nothing changed in his life from this moment on, he would be incredibly content.

_I'm _not_ afraid. That's stupid. I can walk away from this relationship at any time without any problems. I just don't want to, that's all. I like it. I like Rude, and I like the sex, and I like how easy this all is._

He didn't want anything to change from here, from now. His body relaxed, and his breathing evened out. _Screw deep, meaningful thoughts. I can think later. Sleep now._ Dozing slowly, he curled closer to Rude, smiling.

_Yeah. I could do this forever._ _Or at least for some time._

-

A/N: Edited for smut. :3 Sorry, can't put it in. Review anyway, please?


	6. Turning of the Tide

Something was definitely up. Elena kept stealing glances over at Reno- he was too... _laid back_. Rufus was speaking, and Reno, the only one not standing to attention, was leaning back against the wall, a little smirk on his face. 

_Something is going _on_ with him..._

Tseng had noticed it too, and he glanced at Elena, one eyebrow raised. She just shrugged, glancing between Reno and Rude. _Huh._

Granted, Reno never seemed to be attentive. He was always relaxed, always leisurely. But this was different. He was literally lost in his own little world.

"Reno."

"Huh?" The lanky man's head jerked up. Elena shook her head; Rufus had been trying to get his attention for a few minutes now. Rude was rubbing his forehead. _Something's going on between those two..._

"If you're done daydreaming, perhaps you can tell me exactly what we're doing here." Rufus' expression was mild and blank, but there was something behind his eyes- amusement? Anger? Elena couldn't tell. And if Reno was smart, he wouldn't push it.

"Are you giving me permission to daydream more, sir?" Reno grinned, pocketing his hands. Behind that smile was annoyance at being caught.

"Hardly." Rufus shook his head. "I don't know why I'm really bothering. You and Rude are... _not_ properly equipped to handle this mission."

Rude sat up, looking affronted. Elena bit her lip. _Not the best thing to say to Rude..._

"Relax, Rude. I didn't mean that in a negative way." Rufus gestured slightly, causing the older man to deflate. "Neither of you are female. It would look... awkward. You see, here's the problem. Shin-ra corporation is attempting to rebuild. In order to do that, we're starting small, owning some property in Wutai and Kalm. On these properties, we've built some hotels, a spa, and a resort."

He shuffled some papers around, and looked up. "In Wutai, I took the precaution of sending a unit with each property. There is a hotel/spa resort complex in Wutai that has stopped communicating with the company. The unit has vanished off the face of the planet. I need to know what's going on." He looked between Tseng and Elena. "Are you two able to handle it?"

Elena glanced at Tseng, then nodded. "I know I'm able to do it."

"Wait, boss, why not Rude and I? We're _bored_, let us go and kick some ass!" Reno straightened, frowning.

"No." Rufus said sharply. "It's not that simple." He settled back, lacing his fingers together. "This needs to be low-profile. I don't want two Turks going in with guns blazing." He looked between Reno and Rude. "And I know that's exactly what you two will do."

Reno flushed and looked down, muttering something. Rude just shook his head. Rufus continued. "I need something subtle. I need stealth, not outright violence. Tseng, Elena, can the two of you handle that?"

"Certainly, sir," Tseng said easily. "What are the details?"

"You two will go the the hotel and check in as Jun and Lina Liang, a just-married couple." Rufus' calm smile seemed different, almost twisted. "After doing that, you will proceed to do everything a just-married couple would do."

Reno started snickering. Elena was fairly certain her face was turning several shades of red. Tseng was sitting rigidly at attention, eyes staring straight ahead.

"_I_ was referring to seeing the sights, enjoying the spa, taking advantage of the area." No doubt about it- Rufus was definitely amused now. "I think I can guess what you all were thinking. I doubt the ruse will run that deeply." Unspoken was _"Unless, of course, you two deem it's necessary."_

"Of course, sir." Elena said quietly. _Oh, Gods. Wouldn't that be... amazing._ Not only would she get to have sex with Tseng, it would be _on duty_ and _under orders_ to do so. No guilt on either of their parts. How often was _that_ going to happen?

But would it be amazing and mind-blowing and incredible and- _Stop thinking about it. Idiot._ She shook her head slightly, refocusing her attention back on Rufus.

"Sir, that doesn't seem... entirely safe," Tseng attempted, gaze looking... oddly blank, almost. As if he was trying _very hard_ not to think about something.

"Safe?" Rufus arched an eyebrow. "Since when are you worried about safety, Tseng? I wasn't aware it mattered."

Tseng's cheeks flushed pale pink with embarrassment. "Forgive me, sir, I misspoke. What I meant was, this ruse... it could prove overly distracting."

"How so?" Rufus tilted his head slightly. "I'm all ears."

Tseng glanced at Elena. "Well, it could pull our attention away from discovering what's going on, if we're overly focused on the parts we have to play..."

_No, Tseng, don't do this to me, don't give me this tiny little hope and yank it away..._ Elena's heart was in her throat, but she had to agree with him. He was right, there _was_ the possibility that they would miss important clues because they had to act a certain way, and be in certain places at certain times. Especially if the building had a surveillance system. "He's right, sir." She said after a moment, trying to keep her voice as calm as possible.

_Besides, if I'm this torn up about it now... He doesn't even want me. That's probably the other reason he's objecting to the idea of a ruse._

"He's not _right_," Rufus said, "he has a valid point. However, not valid enough. You two are not only skilled fighters, you are _Turks_." He straightened his back, looking at the two of them calmly. "I would not give you a mission I did not think you could handle."

The Northern Crater sprang to Elena's mind, but she shoved it aside quickly. _How was he to know about them? He didn't know. We didn't know. We did what we could, and it was what was best._ "Yes, sir." She said calmly.

"You are professionals. I expect you to act accordingly." Rufus' lips twitched upward faintly. "Even if, at times, it requires acting unprofessionally."

Tseng gave a quiet, humorless, almost-laugh. "Understood, sir. We can and will handle it."

_Easy for him to say,_ Elena thought, almost bitterly. _His only concern is probably figuring out how to make everyone think we're married without having to touch me._ She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. _Enough. That's stupid, selfish and entirely immature. I do not _care_ if Tseng is attracted to me or not. I don't care if he doesn't want me as a lover. I am a professional, as the boss said. As long as he handles this is a professional way, I will as well._

She opened her eyes in time to see Rufus nod in satisfaction. "Good," he said, nodding. "That's exactly what I wanted to hear. You are both dismissed. You'll find things you both need in your office, Tseng."

Tseng stood, Elena followed suit. "Yes, sir." They said in unison.

"Ok, we're just gonna go too..." Reno started to get up, as Tseng headed for the door, Elena following.

"Not just yet." Rufus gestured a bit. "Sit down, Reno. I want to talk to you and Rude..."

Elena glanced over her shoulder, just in time to see Reno's expression shift to one of forced curiosity, but there was the definite _oh, shit_ look behind his eyes. _Uh-oh. Poor Reno._

"Come on," Tseng said, glancing at her. "They can handle themselves, whatever they've done."

"You noticed too." It wasn't a question. "What do you think's going on?"

"It's Reno." Tseng shrugged, opening the door to his office. "Who knows what he's done now. Sounds like whatever he did, he dragged Rude into it as well."

Elena stepped inside, eying the suitcases on the bed. "I wonder what he got us."

"I doubt we're going in uniform," Tseng said, slightly dryly. "I hope we can get away with 'business casual.'"

"Skirts," Elena's tone dripped with distaste as she opened the suitcase. "Well... at least they're not _short_." She held up one of the skirts, then examined some of the other outfits. She didn't notice Tseng's expression change at the mention of short skirts from one of wry amusement, to slightly glazed staring, then back to somewhat forced wry amusement.

"I'm sure we'll live." He examined his own suitcase, then zipped it shut. "Well, we don't need to leave for a while, yet."

"I guess I'll get changed," Elena muttered, digging through until she found a pale cream dress. _This'll work. We're supposed to be just married anyway._ She took a deep breath and headed into the bathroom to change.

_How can I deal with this? What is the boss thinking? Doesn't he know?_ She examined herself in the mirror, toying with her hair a bit. _How can I keep myself from taking this the completely wrong way, and... wanting this again?_

She closed her eyes, unbuttoning her blouse. _I guess I'll deal with it. Maybe this'll be enough to last me for the rest of my life. Or maybe it'll be awful, and I'll break free of this stupid crush._

She knew she was just deluding herself into thinking Tseng was a bad lover. He was damned attractive, and polite, and he seemed to be so concerned with her at times...

_No. No, he's probably terrible in bed. Yes. That's what I have to believe._

She slipped into the dress and looked at herself in the mirror. _Hm. Snobby bitch, or air-headed trollop? Better go with the latter- they'll never suspect that I'm a Turk that way..._

She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders, nodding. _Right. Here we go._ Scooping her uniform up, she turned on her heel and walked, barefoot, back to Tseng's office.

_I can do this._

-

Reno was praying to every God he'd ever heard of that he wasn't in real trouble. Or, rather, that Rude wasn't going to get into real trouble. He'd promised the older man that if the shit hit the fan, he'd take the fall.

Staring into the cold smile of Rufus Shin-ra, it appeared that the shit had, indeed, hit the fan. He grinned jauntily, though it felt strained on his face. "So, boss, what's the deal? Got something for us to do, with Tseng and Elena off on their honeymoon?"

"Guard duty, of course. While I'm no longer incapacitated, it never hurts to have people who know how to take care of problems." Rufus' smile didn't change. "I know the two of you are extremely capable in that aspect."

"Well, yeah, of course." Reno relaxed, just slightly, hoping it didn't show. "We can always do that, can't we, partner?"

"It's no trouble." Rude, thankfully, always looked rigid and at-attention, sitting, standing or laying down, so his posture didn't change a damn bit if he was stressed, calm or whatever. "Of course."

"Hm." Rufus nodding slightly, smiling a bit more. "Now, that, of course, wasn't why I kept you behind."

_Shit._ Reno tried to keep his shoulders from tensing up. That sent pain jerking down his back and buttocks. _Son of a bitch. I didn't think I'd be _this_ sore..._ "Oh? Well, don't keep us in suspense, boss..."

"You seemed terribly distracted, earlier." Rufus' eyes flicked between Reno and Rude. "I'd like to know why."

Rude straightened his tie. Reno swallowed a bit. "Yeah, about that..."

"Tell me, has something happened between the two of you?" Rufus gestured between the two of them. "Don't be afraid to tell me the truth."

Reno traded a look with Rude. _Well? I guess there's nothing for it._ "Yes, sir. We... um... had a nice discussion last night."

"A discussion." Rufus' voice was flat. "Oh, yes? What sort? Do enlighten me."

Reno sat quietly for a moment, tapping his jaw. "Well, sir, you see..."

"We had sex, sir." Rude wasn't known for his tact when it came to the boss. Reno dropped his face into his hand. _Gods, Rude. Real subtle._

Rufus' eyebrows raised slightly. "Oh? Really."

"Look, boss, I can explain," Reno hastened to cover for his partner's blunt words. "You see, it happened kinda funny, like a dream..."

"I don't need an explanation." Reno's heart sank. _I'm not even gonna get a chance, am I?Dammit... I hope he at least doesn't demote Rude or anything... Maybe that's really why he offered the mission to Tseng and Elena and not us..._

Rufus was looking between the two of them. Rude's face was utterly impassive, and he sat straight and calm in his chair. Reno's expression belied his inner feelings, his posture slightly slumped, his expression too blank, too carefully neutral. "I trust, however, that you are both Turks, and can easily separate your... personal lives from your working relationship."

Reno decided not to tell his boss that he was definitely intending on using the time spent on-duty playing around, at _least_ once. Then, the realization of what Rufus really _said_ kicked in, and he blinked. "Wait a minute- you're not gonna fire us?"

"Would you prefer that alternative?" Rufus glanced at Reno, eyebrow raised. Rude gave Reno a dirty look, and his partner flinched.

"No, no, no way, man." Reno shook his head rapidly, hands clenched in his lap. "This- this is my life..."

"Mine as well," Rude rumbled. "Shachou, you must understand how much being a Turk means to both of us... It took me out of a life that I do not wish to remember..."

Reno nodded, looking at Rufus now. "And I'm sure that if I wasn't in Turk, I'd be dead..." He licked his lips, looking down. "Boss... boss, being a Turk is my _life_, yo, but Rude..." He crossed his arms and hunkered down in the chair. "Rude, he's important to me, man, and not just as my partner... He's- I- I really- I-" He grew awkward, unwilling to say what he felt now, in front of his boss. _Might was well just exclaim _"I am a wuss!"_ and be done with it..._

"So you love him?" Rufus simply raised an eyebrow. Rude shifted, his shoulders tensing, the only sign that Rufus' words had any effect on him. Reno's jaw dropped, fingers biting into his arms. Rufus was working now. "Do you?"

"I... I..." He stared at Rude, mouth working silently. He couldn't say it. Not here, not now. Not like this. _ Can't do it... I can't do it, babe, I am so sorry... I do, I do, but I can't..._

Rufus looked satisfied and settled back in his chair. "Dismissed, Turks."

"What about you, Shachou?" Rude finally asked. "We can't leave you alone."

"I'll be fine," Rufus' tone was very dry. "Trust me. You two go on. I think you two have something to work out."

Reno gave Rude an awkward look before standing up. "Ok, you're the boss... boss." Turning, he started out, Rude following.

"We'll stay in the building," Rude said, after a moment.

"Yeah..." Reno pocketed his hands. "Gotta keep an eye on him. We'll do monitors."

"Sure."

"Yeah."

The pause was long and awkward, and neither of them could muster the courage to break it.

_I fucked up this time, man. Fucked up royally. Now if Rude doesn't lo- care about me, he's gonna be freaked out. He's probably gonna run for the hill first chance he gets. It figures. Fuck! Elena was right! Fuck, fuck, FUCK! Dammit! I'm a fucking _Turk_! We're not supposed to have _feelings_, we're not supposed to want _commitment_, even though Rude and I have been partners for what, three years? A hell of a long time. Longer than most fucking marriages. Fuck! I don't depend on him! I don't want him forever and ever, always in my life, always there to watch my back..._

_Fuck. I do. Goddammit!_

_But what if he does lo- care about me? What then? Now he's probably thinking that I'm some total jackass, who's just using him. Can't admit to the boss that he doesn't love him. Fuck!_

Why had Rufus said that? Why had he brought it to the surface like that? He'd been doing so well, convincing himself that his feelings for Rude weren't there, that it was just lust. That he _didn't_ love him. And Rufus just came in and threw it all in his face.

"_Do you love him?"_

_...fuck, yes._

"Are you all right, aibou?"

Reno jerked at Rude's voice, the sound like a physical slap. "Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah..." He rubbed an arm, looking away. "Yeah, I just thought... you know, were were gonna get in trouble."

"So did I," Rude admitted, sitting down in one of the monitor chairs. "But we're all right."

"Gods know how," Reno muttered. _Damn_, his partner was sexy, bathed in the pale glow of the monitors. "So..."

Rude glanced at him. "Yes?"

Reno straddled his lap in an instant, smirking. "We basically got the boss' 'Ok', you know..."

"Not to fuck around on the clock," Rude said, a blush touching his cheek briefly. "Get off."

"No," Reno purred, leaning down to press his lips to his neck. "Rufus dismissed us anyway... Don't think we're needed..."

Rude's eyes half-closed, one hand settling on Reno's hip. "We shouldn't. He said we can't..."

"What he doesn't know, won't hurt him..." Reno purred, slowly untying Rude's tie. "Trust me... You know you want to anyway..." He slid deeper into Rude's lap, griding himself against the other's apparent arousal. "Oh, yeah, you do."

Rude's sour look at his partner's shit-eating grin was broken up into a strained expression as his other hand settled at Reno's waist now. "Goddammit, Reno, you make everything so damned hard..."

Reno chuckled and bit down on Rude's earring, tugging lightly. "I'd noticed." Rude's tie ended up somewhere on the monitor control board. His shirt was quickly unbuttoned, pale hands sliding across mocha skin. "You like it."

"Occasionally," Rude admitted, head falling back against the chair. Reno grinned at the surrender and leaned in close, kissing his neck.

_Sorry, boss. You, of all people, should know that I don't play by the rules..._


	7. God Says Nothing Back

The journal to Wutai had been surprisingly uneventful. Tseng had skillfully gotten them past the border without any trouble whatsoever. A few phrases in his native tongue that Elena simply couldn't understand, followed by a dark, lustful look in her direction that made her shiver, and the border guard had laughed and waved them through. 

_Maybe it's a good thing that my Wutaian language skills are lacking severely..._

They had decided that the easiest way to enter Wutai was by car. They simply started the charade a bit earlier than expected.

Elena was trying so very hard not to do or say something stupid. She was sitting in the passenger's seat, staring out the window, watching the woods fly by. _It's just a mission. Just a mission, like any other mission. I just have to _pretend_ to be in love with him. No one's saying I have to be. So what if I am? No! No, I am _not_ in love with him, dammit!_

"Is something wrong? You're being awfully quiet." Damn the Turk partner bond! Of course he would have realized that something was different about her behavior. "Are you worried about something?" He glanced over at her, his tone polite, but with a faint edge of worry.

"Oh, I'm fine," she smiled brightly at him, and hoped it didn't look too forced. _I'm just sitting here, thinking about ravishing you later. Oh, hell._ "I'm just... wondering how to act, that's all. When we get there, I mean. I mean, should I be all over you, or nervous, or giggly, or..."

Tseng shifted, rolling his shoulders back. "Well, that's up to you, ideally. Just warn me, whatever you choose." He gave her a small smile, before focusing back on the road.

"Oh, of course, I'd never do something stupid like not telling you the plan," Elena babbled, her old habit rising again out of nerves. "I mean, I'm not Reno, you know." She shut her mouth, biting down firmly on her tongue before she could continue. Tseng chuckled, much to her relief.

"I know you aren't," he said, smiling still. "Which is why I'm not overly worried about your actions tonight."

_Oh, Gods. Tonight._ Elena licked her lips, looking out the window again. "Oh, yes... I did mean to ask... about that... What are we going to do... tonight?"

She was so engrossed in looking out the window and _not giving away_ any of what was in her head, that she completely missed the way Tseng's hands tightened on the wheel, and he had to fight to keep his attention on the road. "I imagine," he said slowly, also attempting not to give anything away, "that we'll do whatever feels right at the time. It all depends on what the situation is."

"That makes sense," Elena agreed. His tone of voice sounded strange, but she couldn't place exactly how. _Stress? Worry? Why? What the hell does he have to worry about? He's so... unbearably attractive... How can I- how can- I don't- oh, shit..._ She fought to control her rising emotions, and her whirling thoughts. _Calm down... before this conveys itself to him as well!_

Tseng glanced at her again, then back to the road. "We're almost there." His voice was as calm as ever, and Elena absolutely loathed him for it. She doubted she could speak in a calm voice- in fact, her voice would probably come out as a high-pitched squeak. "Are you ready?"

That was the dumbest question she'd ever heard. "I'm never ready, sir," she admitted. "I mean, I'm always physically ready, but for a job like this, where we really don't _know_ anything... It's hard to say. I guess I'm ready."

"Good," Tseng glanced at her, smiling a little. "I have faith in you."

"Why?" Elena looked at her hands. _I let you down. I failed you. I couldn't protect you._ The _only_ reason she was on this mission, she was sure, was because of the act they were putting on. If possible, she had no doubt Rufus would have sent in Reno and Rude, and kept Tseng close by his side. And Elena as well, though Tseng was certainly a much more valuable man, as the Director of the Turks.

"Elena." Something in Tseng's voice made it obvious that he knew what was going on in her mind, and she looked over at him. "It wasn't your fault."

They hadn't spoken about this, not ever, not immediately afterwards, when they had been huddled together in the pale forest, under Valentine's cloak, waiting for him to return with help, and not even later, after Rufus had interrogated them. It was a subject that neither of them truly wanted to deal with, and yet it was something that, if left alone, would fester between them and ultimately ruin them both. She knew it. She knew he knew it. There wasn't any choice- she had to discuss this with him.

"I was injured first," she began slowly. "If I'd been more careful, faster..."

Tseng pulled off to the side, parking the car and turning his full attention on her. She wanted to remind him about the mission, and how they were expected, when he drew her close and started messing up her hair a little. "A reason for being late," he murmured, eyes taking on a faint, wickedly humorous glint before utter seriousness returned to his expression. "I simply couldn't keep my hands off of you..."

"Oh..." Elena swallowed slowly, looking away from his dark eyes. "Of course..."

"Now." Tseng leaned forward, even closer, almost invading her space. "Listen to me. There was nothing _I_ could do against Kadaj and his brother. There was nothing _Reno_ could do. He had to run, and run fast. Think about that, think about how he would react to that. Elena, those were clones of Sephiroth. I've fought Sephiroth." That was another thing Elena knew he hated talking about. "While they were considerably weaker than he was, you and I are still alive. If we faced Sephiroth, and not his remnants, we would be dead."

Elena worried the inside of her cheek, then rubbed her hands together. "Th-that's true... But I-"

"No." Tseng put a finger to her lips, and she almost forgot about everything, the stupid mission, the Northern Caves, the pain, the blood, all of it. _He's touching me... _She wanted to say something, anything, wanted to babble that she loved him, that if he wanted to make the facade real, she wouldn't mind at all, the backseat of the car was nice and spacious...

Wait. Tseng was still talking. "You did nothing wrong. Nothing. Do you understand me? Nothing at all. You did exactly what you were supposed to do. I am very proud of you. You were professional, and strong. Now be strong for Shin-Ra again."

Somehow, Elena could almost hear him say _"Be strong for _me_ again, Elena."_ She nodded, setting her jaw. "Yes, sir. Shall we?"

Tseng smiled, and put the car in gear, pulling away from the side of the road. "Well done," he murmured. "Thank you."

"No thanks needed," Elena said quietly, giving him a quiet smile. "It's our job, after all." _And nothing more, I guess._

"Indeed it is." There was no inflection in his tone now, nothing to betray what was in his mind. He had his "game face" on now, and, as they approached the resort, she began calming herself down, preparing herself for the facade to come. Tseng was going to have to ask the pressing questions, if he could.

_She_ was going to be an excellent source of information for Tseng this time. For once, her hair color and slim, diminutive build was going to _help_ the Turks, rather than hinder it. For once, she was going to play the dumb, air-headed, vapid blond princess, and get information that way.

After all, no one looked twice at someone like the woman she was going to be. No one even thought about telling them anything, because obviously, they wouldn't remember it five minutes later.

Only _Elena_ would. But they didn't need to know that. Tseng parked the car in front and got out, letting the doorman get the bags, as if it were second nature to him. He was to be the Wutaian merchant, who, during his travels in Midgar, found a wife he simply couldn't resist. With the dress Rufus had insisted she wear for the day, she couldn't blame him for being unable to resist. It left little to the imagination, and suggested that he didn't marry her for her mind at all.

_I hate wearing this._ She pulled the strap up, moving over and leaning on Tseng's arm. It exposed some fresh scars, which Tseng had already come up with an excuse for, if they were asked. _"Accidents happen,"_ he'd said, shrugging, _"more often than not these days."_

Hopefully, no one would ask. She pressed a bit closer to him, leaning up to murmur in his ear. "Trust me," she kept her voice low, and a smirk on her face. "Just play along." Then, just because it was _perfectly_ in character, and not because she wanted to at all, she bit his ear. She felt him stiffen and curse under his breath in Wutaian, and his arm slid around her waist.

"I always trust you," he murmured in her ear, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. That was, after all, what his character would do. Of course.

She smiled adoringly up at him, mentally resolving to kill Rufus Shin-Ra the moment she returned to Headquarters. Giggling, she let him draw her into the resort's hotel._ Oh, yes, Rufus. You're a dead man. I don't know why you did this to me, but I'm going to kill you. A relatively quick death, though. It's the least I could do to you, after you've made part of my dreams come true._

She looked around, widening her eyes and blinking often. Tseng approached the front desk and started talking to the clerk. She simply leaned against him, giggling every so often at nothing.

_This might be fun yet._

-

Tseng placed a hand on the counter, oozing confidence and arrogance, exactly as his grandfather had, years ago. Whenever it came to emulating a powerful Wutai man, Tseng always deferred to his Grandfather's memory. And so far, it had always worked- he had never been questioned. "Hello. I am Liang Jun. I have a reservation for your honeymoon suit." Saying that, he glanced over at Elena and, fighting back laughter at her air-headed expression, poured all of the lust he had ever felt for her into a single glance.

She blushed, then giggled to keep with her character. "Oh, _Jun_," she said, hanging off his arm.

The clerk coughed slightly. "Ah, yes, it is an honor, Liang-sama." His eyes fell on Elena, on her pale skin and hair. "Where have your... travels led you, Liang-sama?"

"Around the world, boy, around the world." Never mind that the clerk was clearly older than Tseng by at least two decades. Everyone under his social class was "boy". "It's a pity- Lina here knows very little of our language or culture... but she certainly makes up for her... lack of education."

The man's thoughts were clear on his face. _Oh, wonderful. Another damned trophy wife for some arrogant nobody who has only made his power through other countries._ Tseng kept his expression slightly gloating and superior as the man found the key. "Your baggage will be taken to your room shortly, Liang-sama," the clerk said, now simply oozing with charm. "Is there anything you require?"

"Not as of this moment," Tseng took the key, glancing at Elena again, who was giggling and playing with a pen. "We would like dinner sent up to us, if you please."

"Jun, darling, will you tell the funny little man that we'd like dinner and champagne, please?" Elena beamed at Tseng. "He's just so cute in that little outfit!"

Tseng glanced over at the man- this was a perfect test to see if the man spoke the tongue of Midgar. The clerk's jaw clenched slightly, and he stood just a bit stiffer. Tseng took Elena's hand. "Now, now, Lina, dear," he purred, "we've already talked about this. Be nice to the people we talk to, and I'll make sure you're rewarded..."

Elena shivered, and her eyes slid sideways for a moment, glancing at the desk clerk. Tseng longed to know what was going on in her mind. _Do you want me, Elena? Do you desire me now?_

"Well then do tell him I'm sorry, the poor thing. If he understood me, you know. Oh, I just love it here! Let's go upstairs, Jun, darling?" Elena took his hand in both of hers, beaming at him.

Tseng shook his head, smiling, and turned back to the clerk. "My apologies," he continued in Wutaian. "She is... well..."

"An idiot, with all due respect, Liang-sama?" The clerk, clearly still affronted, said as politely as possible.

Tseng laughed, and noticed that the clerk did relax a little more. "Not an idiot per-say. More of a... a fool, sir, a fool. But it's something I'm more than willing to live with, in return for better things." Smirking now, he bowed to the clerk. "Our thanks. Please send dinner up around six."

"Of course, Liang-sama," the clerk said smoothly. "Do enjoy your stay."

Tseng led Elena up to the room, drawing her close and putting an arm around her waist. "Well done," he murmured in her ear as they walked up the stairs. "It's safe to assume that the staff will know how to speak your language."

"Insulted him, did I?" Elena murmured back, giggling, unable to stop herself. "Well, I'm just so sorry, Jun, darling, I just _couldn't_ help myself..."

Tseng fought the urge to roll his eyes and tugged her into the room that they would share for as long as it took for them to discover the truth of what had occurred here. He gave it a cursory once-over, before turning back to her and leaning down to whisper in her ear. "Cameras."

Elena beamed up at him and nodded, kissing his cheek. "I don't think they have audio in here, even if they did have cameras." She also kept her voice to a low murmur. "I read the plans."

Tseng smiled down at her and nodded as well, looking around the room now. It was the classic honeymoon suite, lush and rich, with huge glass doors that opened up to a balcony. The bed was a large, old-looking four-poster monster, with dark-stained wood and huge pillows. He padded silently over to the door-windows, and pushed them open, stepping out onto the balcony. The view was incredible, a clear vista of his homeland, the rich scent of the nearby conifer forests and mountains tall in the distance. "Oh, Gods," he murmured, eyes tearing despite himself. "How I have missed this."

He had always told himself that he could not go back to Wutai. Midgar was his home now. He was outcast from Wutai, serving the son of the man who had destroyed them, and serving him well. He had forced himself to forget his homeland, to never wish to return. But now, standing here, looking out over the once-familiar sights of his country... he could not stop the desire to stay.

_I could stay... I know how to avoid detection by Rufus..._

He closed his eyes, letting the rays of the setting sun hit his face. _I could leave Elena here. She would return to Rufus. She's a smart girl, she could escape._

His eyes opened, and he turned away from the wilderness, looking back inside the room. Elena was fussing with the bed, whether out of nerves or still in her act, he couldn't tell from where he stood. He took a moment to examine her, just to force the thoughts of leaving her behind from his head. Against the ivory of the blankets and sheets, touched by the light of the setting sun, her hair and skin seemed to glow. It was ideal. It was perfect.

If he were truly her husband, he would have crossed the room and taken her in an instant. If he had just married her, he wouldn't be standing out on the balcony, watching her smooth over the silk of the down comforter. He would be looming over her, kissing her, pushing her to the bed- no- she would be sinking back to the pillows of her own accord, smiling that beautiful smile at him, perhaps laughing a little at how eager he was, how eager she was...

_Gods. Stop._ He sagged against the doorframe, rubbing a hand over his face. If he wasn't careful, his selfish desires would overwhelm him and compromise the entire mission. _I have better control than this! I control my desires, they do not control me!_

He looked back at Elena, to see her watching him quietly, simply blinking. He straightened, and moved over to her. "Well, my darling?"

"Cameras," she said, smiling at him, "but no audio."

"Good." He relaxed back onto the bed. "That doesn't mean they won't spy on us, of course..."

"I'd be insulted if they didn't. However, if we keep our voices low enough, they'll never understand us." Elena rested her head against Tseng's chest, and he tried desperately not to think _Oh, well, I could get used to this..._

"That's true. But that leaves us the question of what to do tonight?" He kissed the top of her head, mindful of the cameras, raising his eyes to see if he could see them. "Where are they?"

"One in the mirror, one in the lamp and one in the bathroom mirror," Elena said immediately. "They're good at covering them up, but I'm better at my detective work."

Tseng chuckled, but noticed that she said nothing about the problem he had proposed. "Indeed you are, Lina. Well done."

"Oh, of course, Jun, darling." Her voice held a touch of sarcasm this time, and he chuckled.

"What do you think of the place so far?" He stretched out, putting his hands behind his head, and, for all intents and purposes, relaxing after a long trip.

"I think it's beautiful." Elena nuzzled him lightly. "I'm thinking of asking about the history of the place, so I can find out what their story is. You should take a shower, and I'll go wander around and make a nuisance of myself."

"Too risky," Tseng shook his head. "As tempting as it is. An entire unit of Soldiers disappeared here. You're the best, but you're only one. And you're foreign. I'm not going to risk something happening to you." _I would never forgive myself. I still haven't told you anything._ "However," he placed a finger to her lips before she could protest, "I have no problem with taking a shower, and, when the food arrives, you can torment the poor room service to death with your questions."

Elena's eyes lit up, and he smiled warmly. _You are beautiful._ "Really, sir? Oh, thank you. I'm having too much fun as it is."

"I know," he murmured, smiling. "I can tell." He stood easily. "I'm going to shower. I assume you'll want the same later?"

"Perhaps, maybe even a bath, if it's nice enough." _And safe enough,_ her expression clearly added. Tseng simply nodded and hurried into the bathroom.

Like the bedroom, it was grand to the point of grandiose. It was dominated by the huge, sunken bathtub, with elegant mosaics radiating out from it. The shower was tucked into a corner, also with floor and wall mosaics, and wavy glass along one side. The toilet was almost hidden into a small offshoot of the room.

_Dearest Gods. When Rufus buys something, he certainly makes certain that it isn't half-done. This is incredible._ The bath alone must have taken significant structural work. Perhaps that was another reason the unit of Soldiers had been brought out...

Raking a hand through his hair, he unbuttoned his shirt, tossing it onto the counter of the sink. _Gods. Gods, Gods, Gods, Rufus, why did you do this to me? You unbalance me enough by sending me home, but now... Now with Elena..._

It all came back to her, didn't it? He turned on the water and stepped inside, standing under the cold water, hissing as it gradually turned very hot. He had to scald away the thoughts plaguing him. He _would_ control himself. He had to.

His ears picked up the faint sound of a knock at the door, and Elena sing-songing her way to it. _Heh. Poor man, whoever opens that door..._

She really was enjoying herself. He couldn't relax enough to enjoy this mission. This was, all things aside, really a mild one. He knew this place, he knew it well enough to easily take Elena and escape. Elena would stick out here, no question, but he knew that he could get her hair dyed easily enough.

_Damn. I should have brought black hair dye. I'll mention it to Rufus next time._

Though the thought of Elena with black hair truly puzzled him. It wouldn't be _right_. He couldn't picture it. He could only picture the sunset on her hair as she sat on the bed...

_Gods damn it! This is turning out to be a bad romantic play in my head. Damn! Enough, Tseng. Enough. Tonight. Tonight we'll get this out of our system. Tonight..._

_After all, we're husband and wife, aren't we? There are cameras in the room._ He shampooed his hair, letting the water massage his back. _They'll be expecting a show._

The thought of being watched while making love to Elena made his gut twist oddly. It wasn't just that they were being watched. Gods knew, if they ever did something at Headquarters- like Reno and Rude had, but of course, not that he ever would- Rufus himself would probably watch it. That didn't upset him as much as it probably should of, and he kicked himself for even considering doing something so crass as having sex on duty. No, it was more of the fact that they _did not know_ who was watching them.

He didn't know what had happened here. _In fact, if I do make love to- no, _have sex with- _Elena tonight, it will reduce our awareness, make us more vulnerable..._

Oh, but the thought of it... Something he had fought so hard and so long against admitting, that he had given up on ever having... And now it was, all but in his lap. In fact, if he suggested it, it would probably be in his lap during dinner.

The damned voice of Rufus Shin-Ra popped back into his head once again. _I've practically ordered it, Tseng. What are you afraid of? Being interrupted?_

_Oh, hells, no, I am _not_ listening to you._ Tseng hit the wall, letting the water run down over his hair, washing out the soap. _I can't- I can't compromise the mission..._

_So you'll take her to bed,_ the voice purred. _You'll pin her down and have your wicked way with her, and oh, will she thank you for it... In fact, she'll probably beg you for it again, and again, and again..._

"Shut up," Tseng growled, fists clenched. _I'm going insane._

_Oh, yes, insane with desire._

The last thing Tseng wanted to do was have an argument with himself- literally- in the middle of a mission. Especially if it was about Elena. Never mind the fact that the voice was probably right.

_Oh, hell. I will not agree with a voice in my head! _

"Ts- Jun?" He tensed as Elena caught her slip, and glanced over his shoulder. He couldn't see much through the wavy glass, but it looked like she was poking her head in the door.

"Yes, Lina?" He forced his voice to remain calm, focusing on the charade between them. "What is it, darling?" They were speaking loud enough to be heard from the hallway now, if someone was listening right.

"Dinner's here, darling." Then, without warning, Elena was standing just on the other side of the glass, almost at the open portion of the shower, a two-foot gap between tile and glass that served as a door. "Shall you come out, or shall I come in?"

He knew it was part of the act. Oh, Gods, it had to be. Her voice was pitched _just so_ and she was offering- was offering-

"I'll come out, my love," he said, voice huskier than he'd intended. "What you suggest will come later. Go out and get it all ready for me, dearest?"

He knew Elena was pouting for the camera from her tone. "Oh, all right, if you insist." She walked casually, hips swaying, out the door.

Tseng collapsed against the far wall of the bathroom, rubbing a hand over his eyes. He wasn't going to last an evening with her. He was going to give in. He was going to let his lust and his desire ruin what was between them.

What was between them? Friendship? Partnership? Or had it always been this strained, tension-filled atmosphere? Had he always wanted her?

He'd once asked her out on a date. Sephiroth had disrupted that, then with the destruction of Midgar, the rebuilding of Shin-Ra, the illness of Rufus... they'd never had the time to actually go out. They had been only two of four Turks left, thrown together out of necessity, as Reno and Rude were close partners, and would work with no one else anymore.

Reno and Rude were lovers as well as partners, now. Could lightning strike twice?

_She can't feel that way,_ he told himself. _I ruined what chances I had years ago._

_Keep telling yourself that, fool. You'll really ruin your chances._

Tseng turned off the water and grabbed a towel, wrapping it around his waist. Telling the voice in his head a final time to _shut up_, he stepped out of the shower. Could he risk jeopardizing not only his friendship, partnership, whatever it was he had with Elena, but the mission as well?

He shook his head. _I may have to. I don't know about those cameras._ He pulled on his pants, then a fresh shirt, and took a deep breath. _The decision will lie with Elena._

_As I hope to, as well._

He walked out to the bedroom, smiling at her as she sat on the bed, the food spread out for them both. "Well, my dear," he said, "what have you got for me?"


	8. Life Less Ordinary

"What have you got for me?" 

He didn't mean food, Elena knew that much. She hadn't touched any of the food yet; it wasn't _polite_, after all, and besides, Tseng was better at detecting drugs and poisons. "It looks delicious," she said cheerfully. Then, in a lower voice, "But I don't trust it."

Tseng took a bite of a snow pea, crunched it, then smiled. "Mm. I miss this kind of fresh food. It's perfectly safe," he murmured back. "Eat up. We have to talk."

Elena's gut twisted. _I bet he's upset about what happened in the bathroom..._ "About... er... the shower... I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking..."

"It's all right," Tseng chuckled a bit, gesturing for her to eat up. "It was a good plan, very... in character."

Elena relaxed, seeing that he wasn't mad. "Oh, but the man with the food was _very_ helpful, you know. He let me prattle on and on about what a wonderful place this was and told me it wasn't very old, just built by someone quite rich, but that it had exchanged hands. I, of course, said whoever bought it was very lucky to own such a very big house." She chuckled a bit, remembering the hastily-hid expression of stunned incredulity on the man's face, that anyone could be so _dense_. "I asked, of course, to see the owner, and talked about nothing for some time, while he was bringing in dishes, and them I wanted to know, of course, if the place was haunted, and if there were any horrible stories about people _vanishing_ and that sort of thing." She paused for breath, her charade carrying over, just a bit. "He looked startled enough, hid it very well. Someone like _me_ wouldn't have noticed it. He knows what's going on."

"Was it the man from the front desk?" Tseng was expertly picking up some noodles with a pair of chopsticks. Elena admired his long, slender hands for a moment, before forcing herself to wake up and answers him.

"Unless he has an identical twin brother, it was certainly him." She ate her own meal, pleased that Rude had helped her learn how to use chopsticks years ago. "He must be a big shot around here."

Tseng finished his meal and stood, tugging her out the patio. There were no cameras or listening devices out there, though they did stand a chance of being overheard by someone, if anyone was around. He checked, and pleased that no one was there, frowned quietly. "I wonder if he's the one in charge."

"He didn't seem like it." Elena was attempting to make it a habit to rest on Tseng's chest or side or back when she could. _If I do it enough on this trip, it will become habit, and I can claim it was an accident, if I happen to do so at home every now and again._ She pressed up against his chest, sighing. "He didn't have that 'in-charge' vibe."

"You sound like Reno," Tseng said, amused. "What makes you think that?"

This felt like a test. Elena stood a bit straighter. "The way he carries himself. The way he speaks. I don't know, it could be an elaborate act, but I think someone else is behind it."

"You may be right," Tseng agreed, resting his chin in her hair and watching the sun dip below the horizon. "But you could be wrong. It's hard to say. And I'm worried. I don't like this, we don't have enough Intel on this place to do what we have to do."

"We've had missions with less Intel than this one," Elena shrugged. "All we have to do is act..."

"Act like this?" Tseng's voice was dark, and before she could question him, he had leaned down and captured her lips with his.

Her mind froze. Her body reacted. Instantly, her hands slid up his chest and grabbed onto his shirt, pulling him closer. _Oh, yes. Oh, Gods, yes, this is exactly what I imagined it would be..._

Tseng broke the kiss, and she fought back a whimper. _This is not a dream. This is not a fantasy. This is real life. Oh, Gods, this is real life, and Tseng just kissed me, he just _kissed me_, and he might just kiss me again..._ She looked up at him, fighting to keep her expression nuetral.

"Answer me, Elena," Tseng rumbled, his voice deeper than usual. "Should we act like that?"

Elena took a deep breath. _Should we? Should we... do what's expected of every just-married couple?_ "If- if you don't want to... we... don't have to, we can always... play it off, I can act afraid..."

"With how you've been acting previously? No." Tseng stroked her cheek, the gesture soft, gentle, as if he truly wanted this from her. Did he? "No, Elena... I don't think that's going to work..."

"We could... fake it...?" She swallowed, closing her eyes and leaning into the caress. That's what her character would do anyways, even if there weren't any cameras out here. Even if they faked the sex, he would still be over her, against her, she could still touch him...

"That could work," he nodded slowly, gaze turning inwards. "If, of course, that is what you want..." He looked up at the starts that were beginning to wink into existence in the sky above. "It's risky, but it could work, if we do it right."

"What do _you_ want, Tseng?" Elena looked at him quietly. He blinked, and looked almost surprised. She supposed that no one asked him what he wanted very often. "What do you want to do?" _Do you want me, Tseng? Do you want me as much as I want you? The way you're acting... I almost believe you do..._

Tseng was silent for a moment, for much longer than Elena liked. _He doesn't. He doesn't want me... I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up..._

"I think," he finally said, very slowly, "that in the best interests of this mission, we should stick as closely to our roles as possible." He leaned in closer, looking down at her with eyes that were so dark, they were nearly black, and so full of desire she could barely comprehend it. _How- how can he want-_

"Tseng-" she whispered, and it didn't matter if anyone was listening, because they wouldn't hear her now, her voice was so choked, so quiet. "I-"

"I want you," he rumbled, and leaned down to kiss her again, then again. "Now," he added unnecessarily, pulling back and maneuvering her into the room.

A thousand thoughts ran through Elena's head, first and foremost _"But I wanted a bath..."_ and ending with _"Oh, Gods, this is really happening."_ She moved in front of him, throwing all caution to the wind and pressing herself wantonly against him. She wasn't a virgin, but she hadn't had more than a handful of lovers, and the last one had been some time ago. And it was _Tseng_. She'd wanted him for what, two, three years now?

She had just managed to wrap her mind around the fact that Tseng _did_ want her- if only in a situational way- before the back of her legs hit the bed, and she sat down. He was over her in a minute, legs straddling her thighs, kissing her again. She'd never seen him like this, so uncontrolled, so uninhibited.

_Was there something in the food?_

But she'd eaten the same, and all she felt was desire, all-consuming desire. Exactly as she would feel occasionally, when she would wake up from sweat-soaked dreams of sex and Tseng.

She blinked, her mind suddenly wrapping around the fact that she _was_ going to have sex with Tseng. _Oh, Gods. Please tell me this will happen more than once..._

He had gotten rid of his shirt by now, and though she'd seen him shirtless before, but it wasn't like this. It had always been clinical, injury control, never anything so sensual. She reached out to touch pale butterscotch skin, pale but still darker than her own. "Tseng," she whispered, kissing him again.

"Elena," he murmured in return, shivering at her touch, his eyes closing. Gods, he was beautiful. So beautiful.

"I hope we're not compromising our mission, but I really can't... call you... you know." She started giggling, and, to her horror, couldn't stop. _Oh, shit, knock it off, Elena... before he thinks you're insane, or decides to stop..._

Tseng, much to her surprise, laughed as well, kissing her gently. "I know. I understand." He examined the silk dress, debating how to get it off. "Zipper?"

"Ties in the back," Elena murmured, shifting forward. "Then just slide it down..."

Tseng's skilled fingers had the dress' knots untied and had his hands smoothing over the skin of her back in moments. "Scars," he murmured, tracing one he could feel, one she remembered. _Yazoo_. She thought so, anyway. It was the exit wound from the first shot she'd taken.

"You have your own," she murmured, touching the massive one that marred his chest. _Sephiroth, no doubt._ Another time he should have died, before they had anything like this. Her fingers trailed over the scar, and before she realized it, she'd dipped her fingertips into the waistband of his pants. _Oops._ Grinning, she unbuckled his belt.

Tseng, meanwhile, was sliding the dress off her shoulders, trailing kisses down her neck, along her shoulders, along her collarbone. He allowed her to undo his pants, and she could feel him tense, groaning softly as she freed him from his slacks. "Mm, commando, hmm?"

"You expected less?" His lips brushed her breast, and she arched slightly. He took the opportunity to push her back to the bed. She arched as the skin of her back hit the soft, cool silk of the bed.

"No... oh, Tseng..." His lips were right back where they had left off, teasing and coaxing one nipple into hardness. "Oh, Gods, Tseng..."

"Shh." Tseng kissed her lightly, palming her other breast, pulling back to look at her. "So beautiful," he murmured, as if he didn't quite realize what he was saying. He tugged the dress all the way off, tossing it into a crumpled, expensive pile of silk to the floor. Elena tried not to blush and cover herself, as she she was naked now except for the skimpy pair of panties that- that _Rufus_ had picked out, and wait, hadn't he picked out the dress as well?

No, no, surely Rufus had someone do that for him. Reno, probably. Why the hell was she even considering this when Tseng was kicking his pants across the room and kissing her again, stealing her breath and making her feel _so warm_...

(Had Elena known what was going on in a small surveillance room two stories down, she would not feel so comfortable. Two of the men who had helped take the resort from Shin-Ra hands into the hands of the gentleman who had desired it were watching the monitors, making crude, crass remarks, and making certain that the events were recording.

The problem arose when the man who had worked at the front desk came in. He hadn't trusted the two who had come- something wasn't right. Too many questions, about too close a subject. He took one look at the scars marring Tseng's back and frowned. "Look those two up," he said, frowning. "No. I will. Go and stop them. Kill them if necessary."

"But the show- it'll be easier later..." One of the men complained, pointing to the monitors. "She just got naked!"

"They are from Shin-Ra, I know it," the man insisted, frowning. "Go and disable them. Keep them alive. I will find out who they are, and join you up there shortly."

"Can't we watch the show, just a bit longer?" The second man complained, shaking his head. "We will go up soon."

"Make it sooner, rather than later, or else you will regret it." The man took over one of the computers, tapping away, searching for something he _knew_ was there. The men turned their attention back to the monitor.)

Elena arched into Tseng's touch as he trailed his fingers down her stomach, blissfully unaware of what was occurring downstairs. "Oh, Gods."

Tseng chuckled, pressing a kiss to her hip. "Do you know what I've dreamed of doing to you?" He couldn't care about this now, couldn't keep pretending that it was only the mission anymore than she could. She knew it, and knew he knew it, and didn't care. She couldn't either.

"What?" She managed to say, breathless, eyes half-closed. "Tell me, Tseng, show me..."

"Show you?" Tseng arched an elegant eyebrow, squeezing her thigh lightly. "Mm, certainly." He shifted up, kissing her, tongue lightly touching hers, while his hand slid between her legs.

Elena's breath left her in a whoosh, and her hips jerked convulsively as Tseng curled his fingers inward, sliding inside slick flesh. She tried to speak, but her throat wouldn't work, her breath was trapped in her lungs, and she could barely breath.

"Tseng..." she finally managed, hands clawing at the sheets. "Tseng, oh, Gods, please, Tseng..."

Tseng had wanted to bring her to the peak at least once before taking her, but there was no time, not now, not yet. He needed her too badly, and she needed him too.

She slid a hand into his hair as he kissed her this time, settling over her, his weight pressing her into the mattress. _Finally, Gods, yes, finally..._ She wanted him inside her, more than she wanted anything else. And she was finally going to get her wish, he was going to- to make love to her, that had to be what it was...

_Gods, yes..._ She whimpered as he broke the kiss, wrapping her legs around his waist. "Please..."

Tseng hushed her with another kiss, pulling back to look at her, taking in every detail, the way the light fell over her, the heat of her body against his, the rich scent of vanilla and honey that filled his nostrils, the sounds of footsteps echoing up the stairs...

They both froze at the same time. _Footsteps?_ They looked at each other silently, then Tseng spoke. "We're in the honeymoon suite."

"Maybe it's room service, come to take the plates?" Elena asked hopefully, though she knew it wasn't true. _Fuck! No, please, so close..._ Her body wailed in thwarted pleasure, Turk senses overwhelming the desire for Tseng.

"Unlikely, that occurs in the wee hours of the night, and they are usually silent." Tseng's body was tense. The footsteps drew nearer, and he rolled sharply to one side, off the the bed. He landed flat on his back, the impact driving the air from his lungs, Elena landing heavily on top of him. Before she could curse the ruined moment, the door flew open, and gunfire spattered the bed where they had lain.

Words were shouted in Wutaian, she couldn't understand, and looked down at Tseng. His jaw was set, and he did not look happy. Neither was she, for that matter. _I finally start to get what I want, and the bad guys break in. Not cool._

She remained frozen, waiting for Tseng to indicate what they should do. The men who had burst in were shouting- at each other, it seemed. _Well? Now what?_

-

"You idiot! You are supposed to take them alive!"

That didn't sound good. Tseng held his breath, and held Elena close. _What the hell is this?_ He felt absolute, overwhelming rage; base, animal anger at being interrupted while claiming _his Elena_. While the burst of violence had killed his desire for sex, it hadn't dampened his thirst for Elena in the slightest. _So close, so damned close!_ She had practically been _his_, dammit!

He glanced up to the nightstand, looming above him. While the goons at the door argued about what had happened, why he'd disobeyed orders, and where the hell were the victims, he carefully pushed Elena off, miming for silence, and slid over to the nightstand, reaching up very carefully to coax the drawer open as silently as possible.

"Oh Liang-_sama_," one of the men sing-songed, peering into the bathroom. "Do come out... This was all a misunderstanding..."

_And I'm a chocobo,_ Tseng thought bitterly, getting a hand on the gun Elena had stashed in the drawer and pulling it down quickly.

"Good girl," he whispered to her. She beamed at him, nodding.

"Liang-sama..." The same man was out of the bathroom, still calling. Where had the second gone? He doubted he had time to mount a search effort. Throwing caution to the wind, Tseng rose, gun already trained on the area where he'd last heard the man speak. He fired twice, then dropped down as a burst of cursing erupted from the man.

"They're armed! Maybe the boss was right, that damned bastard!"

_Right? Right about what?_

"It doesn't matter, it's only one man."

"And the woman!" The man Tseng had fired upon- it didn't seem as if he'd hit him- added.

"Bah. She is a woman. What can a woman do?"

_Oh, you are a fool._ Tseng glanced over at Elena to see her response- and she wasn't there. Using the darkness of the room to her advantage, she had stuck to the wall and gotten to another gun she had hidden, along with a stash of ammunition. _You are a fool as well, Elena, what in hell are you doing!?_

She threw him the bag of ammo, which he caught carefully. "What was that?" One of the men scanned the room, their eyes still adjusting to the dark from the light of the hallway.

"Hit the lights, you idiot."

_Oh, shit._

The main light of the room flicked on, and Elena, naked and exposed against the wall by the dresser, stared at two ugly, muscle-bound men holding sub-machine guns. They stared at her, she stared at them, then one of them grinned. "Hello, lady. Aren't you pretty?"

Elena reacted on instinct, shooting the man in the shoulder. Had she not been shocked and surprised, she would've gotten him in the head. Tseng rose to his feet again and took out the injured man with a bullet through the skull. Elena dove for the bed for cover, just as the other man opened fire again. Tseng cursed and dropped, hand clasped to his arm where a bullet nicked it. Elena was not as fortunate, a bullet taking her through the calf. Her diving momentum allowed her to land behind the bed, where, swearing like a sailor, she curled around the pain in her leg.

"Let me see it." Tseng leaned over, tugging her had away from the wound.

"It's not bad," she insisted, pushing at him. "I'm fine. Focus on the guy with the gun."

"You need a bandage." Tseng gestured to the comforter. "Wrap it."

"If you value the lady's life, Liang-sama, you will surrender now... I guarantee you I am not alone, and reinforcements are coming soon..."

Tseng looked down at Elena, then, lips peeled back, he rose to his feet again, and startled as he was practically face-to-face with the gunner. The other man was obviously surprised too, and had not been expecting such a move. His gun was lowered, obviously intending on firing through the bed to them, and before he could bring his gun up to fire point-blank at Tseng, the Turk shot him in the chest.

"Do you think he meant it?" Elena pulled herself to her feet. "That he has friends?"

"I'm sure of it," Tseng helped her. "Can you run?"

"Maybe." Elena tested her weight against the makeshift bandage. "It hurts like hell, sir, but I think I can handle it.

_Sir. _She had to be in pain if she was referring to him as "sir" again. "Good. Let's go." He led her off, helping her move as best as he could while still moving quickly.

They moved out into the hallway, still naked and uncaring, until the sound of more footsteps brought them up short. "We need to get outside." Tseng muttered.

"It's freezing outside, Tseng!" Elena looked up at him, shaking her head. "We'll die of exposure."

"Better than dying of whatever's coming our way." Tseng hurried her on, hitting the stairs as fast as he dared.

"Liang Jun! Or, perhaps, I should say, Xian Tseng?"

Tseng froze as they hit the ground level, whirling around to see the desk clerk descending the stairs, a small pistol in hand. "Ah, yes, I thought so. And you, you must be Miss Elena Cole. Two of Shin-Ra's finest. I am truly honored."

Elena cursed, taking a step back and nearly buckling. "Tseng, run," she whispered, brining her gun to bear on the man approaching them. "Get out."

"_Elena!"_

"_G-get out..."_

"No." Tseng said firmly. "He's one man."

"Oh?" The little clerk laughed, as the Turks carefully backed away from the stairs and him, as he drew closer to the ground floor. "Ah, I see. Now, kindly stay still, my girl, and let me put you out of your misery. I'll be sending your heads back to Rufus Shin-Ra; I'm certain he'll be interested in retrieving some portion of his beloved Turks."

"You?" Elena laughed, but the sound was nervous. She knew as well as Tseng did that something wasn't adding up. How could three men wipe out an entire unit? "You're just one man. You might kill me, but Tseng will kill you before I'm dead, I can guarantee it."

"You won't kill us." Tseng took over, frowning. _I will not lose her. Not now._ "You wasted your lackeys on us, trying to burst in on us while we slept."

"Sleeping, was it?" The man cackled, eyes dragging over Elena. Tseng felt himself starting to bristle and he forced himself to calm down. Elena shuddered in disgust, covering herself as best she could with one arm while still pointing the gun at him. "No matter. Who said I was alone?"

He whistled shrilly, and Tseng glanced over his shoulder to see men rapidly filling the foyer. The lost unit wasn't lost after all. _Oh, shit._ "Elena..."

"The unit?" She whispered, not taking her eyes off of the clerk. She could hear the men behind her.

"Yeah." Tseng's voice was very quiet.

"You see, Turks," the clerk was now level with them, gun pointed at Elena's chest, "when I bought this place, I _bought_ it. That includes your dear Shin-Ra's men."

"This could be bad," Tseng murmured, attempting to think of a way out.

"I told you to run," Elena said, glancing at him. "I'm sorry. I screwed up again."

Tseng simply shook his head, as the clerk laughed and clapped his hands together. "Now, ma'am, sir, where was I? Oh, yes. I am going to kill you both, and send your heads back to Shin-Ra with a little message." He leaned forward on his toes, smirking. "That message is that Wutai is _mine_. And I am coming for him." He looked over the Turks' shoulders, nodding to the unit behind them. "Take them. Leave them alive... I want to choose who dies first... I want to let one to watch while the other is butchered."

He was looking at Tseng with an unpleasant gleam in his eye, and Tseng already realized who he was going to choose. _Oh, no._ He looked over at Elena, who still had her gun trained on the clerk. _No. I won't let it happen._ He touched her arm, and she glanced at him as the unit started towards them. _He wants us alive, Elena. That's a huge point in our favor._

_Let's go. Let's force them to kill us, so we do not disappoint Shachou. We will not allow this man the satisfaction of seeing our pain._

She must have read his intent in his expression, and she nodded and turned her back on the clerk, starting for the unit. He must have been waiting for that, because she heard a gunshot, and a bullet clipped her shoulder.Tseng heard her make just a tiny sound of pain before firing into the ranks of the unit. Tseng followed suit, using his gun as a club as well as his fists when the bullets ran out.

The fight was short, but bloody, and far too one-sided. Two against a hundred were never good odds, especially when one was injured. Soon they were borne down beneath the mob, still struggling, before being clubbed into unconsciousness.

Tseng could hear the man laughing, the sound following him down into darkness. _No... I'm sorry, Elena..._


	9. Madman Across the Water

Tseng's head pounded. He was cold- so cold! What had happened? Why was he so cold? Where was Elena? Hadn't they been in bed, the huge bed, and tangled together, sweat-soaked and panting, basking in the afterglow? Or was that another dream? Why were his wrists tied above his head? He hadn't thought Elena was that kinky... 

_...oh, no._ Now he remembered. _The mission. The mission, abort, Shachou, abort, we've been compromised... Someone needs to tell him..._ But his phone was in the car... And he seemed to be a bit tied up as it was.

"He's awake, sir."

"Good, good. Just in time, Tseng-san. Your partner- or is she truly your lover?- just woke up as well."

Tseng's eyes snapped open. He was lying flat on his back, staked out like a sacrifice on the lawn in the back of the resort hotel. His wrists were tightly lashed together with a stake between them, that had been driven into the ground. His legs were similarly tied. And he was still naked.

_I can get out of this, I think. I just need a little time..._

"I asked you a question, Xian Tseng," the desk clerk placed a foot on Tseng's chest. "I expect an answer."

"Who are you?" Tseng croaked, swallowing.

"My name is not important." The clerk waved a hand, looking down at Tseng. "Is she?"

"She... is my partner," Tseng admitted, though even giving that much information made his stomach twist. "Tell me who you are. I want to know."

The man kicked him in the side, and he grunted. Elena made a weak sound, and he wanted so badly to look over at her, but he was afraid to. He didn't want to know what had been done to her yet.

"I suppose it is only honorable to hear the name of the man who destroyed you," the clerk puffed himself up importantly. _You know nothing of honor,_ Tseng thought in disgust. _You know nothing._ "Very well, since you _demanded_ so nicely. I will grant you your last request. I am Ghen Yu. Haven't heard of me? I'm not surprised. Don't worry about it. You have more to worry about now." He put his foot to the side of Tseng's head and forced him to turn, looking over at his partner. "Much more."

Elena had been tied in a similar position, her hands helplessly above her head, but with her legs spread, not lashed together as Tseng's had been. She, too, was still naked. Blinding rage tinged Tseng's vision red briefly, before he quickly tamed it down. It didn't appear that she had been raped yet. However, with her injured leg, the question of her tearing out the stake that helped bind that ankle to the ground was out of the question.

And now that he was awake... Gods knew what they would do to her.

"_I want to let one to watch while the other is butchered."_

A shudder wracked his body, born of cold and sudden, gut-wrenching fear- not for himself, but for his partner. Turks did not feel fear for themselves or for others- except their partners, or their boss. _Gods, no, Elena..._

Ghen prodded Elena with a toe, examining her. "What do you think I should do with her, Xian Tseng? I'm certain my men would enjoy a romp. They grow bored, with no women around, no pleasure found but in each other." He leaned over Elena, reaching down to stroke a hand through her hair. "No... soft skin to be found, no warmth of a woman's touch..."

"Don't touch me," Elena spat, twisting to bite his hand. Cursing, he yanked his hand back, then slapped her.

"Whore!" He gestured for one of the Soldiers forward. "So be it. You will be broken, woman, broken to my hand, and then, when you beg for death, remember that your precious partner has seen your disgrace."

Elena managed a weak laugh, and Tseng felt a surge of pride. _Show them you aren't afraid, Elena. Make me proud._

"I've had worse, no matter what you dish out." Elena's teeth were clenched, and she gave the man a cold look. "I'm not scared of you."

"Good, good." Ghen unbuttoned his shirt, smirking. "I saw that you and your precious partner did not complete the act, as much as the two of you seemed to wish to." His smirk grew into an ear to ear grin, and he knelt down next to her. "I believe I shall take you from him first... then the men will have their turn. And if there is still something left of you after that, I will simply shoot you." He paused, hand hovering over her stomach. "Please, do feel free to beg," he added, his hand settling on her stomach. "It makes your disgrace all the sweeter."

Elena shrank away from his touch as best she could. Her eyes were wide with fear, and Tseng couldn't blame her. No matter who you were, Turk or civilian, rape was a traumatizing and horrifying experience. Elena had not been raped by Kadaj and his brothers; Vincent had rescued them before the promised torture had occurred.

Vincent was not coming to rescue them this time. Her fear only made the man grin even more, as he moved around and settled between her legs, unbuckling his belt and unbuttoning his pants. Elena bit into her lip, heedless of the iron tang of blood as it filled her mouth because of it. _No, no, please no..._

Tseng didn't know how he had gotten free. He knew that he could pry the stakes from the ground- they were near a medium-sized, slow-moving river, and the ground was very damp. However, with the awkward way his arms had been stretched, it should have taken him at least five minutes.

Elena had been unable to keep a wordless sound of fear from escaping her lips as Ghen freed himself from his pants. That sound galvanized Tseng into action. With two hard yanks that left his shoulders screaming in pain, he tore the stake from the ground and lunged up, tearing the stake that bound his feet free as well. Lunging across the distance that separated them, he hit Ghen like a truck, swinging his bound hands into the other man's face.

They flew to the side, away from Elena, who could only watch with wide eyes. Then, as the attention of the men of the unit was taken off of her, she started to work her own wrists free. Tseng made damned sure that their attention remained on him and Ghen.

They rolled this way and that, Tseng at a distinct disadvantage due to his bound feet. However, he was not completely helpless, nor weaponless. Ghen drove a knee into his gut, forcing air from his lungs, and he curled forward around the pain. The spike still between his wrists shifted, and he could twist a hand around to get a fist around it, and drive the blunt end down against Ghen's head several times in short succession.

It worked- too well. Ghen dropped like a rock, falling back into the river, and yanking Tseng with him. He hit the icy mountain run-off, flailing as best he could as he was bound. Still breathless from the fight, the barely-thawed water drove the remaining air from his lungs, then closed over his head.

_Shit._

-

"All of you drop your weapons." Elena's voice, hoarse but sharp, tore everyone's attention from the struggle that had just ended. She calmly held Ghen's small pistol that he had dropped. One of the men nearest to her laughed and started to turn his gun on her. She shot him in the throat, and he dropped with a gurgle. She swiftly caught his much larger gun and trained it on the largest knot of Soldiers. "Drop your weapons, or I'll start dropping you. Now."

Without the benefit of a leader, the troops were unsure of what to do next. Some of them obeyed her- she was a Turk, after all, and they were trained to obey Turks. Any who attempted to resist, she shot without a second thought.

_Tseng._ She was alone now, with roughly seventy men, all of whom were guilty of treason against Shin-Ra. "Who has a phone?" She snapped, pointing her gun at a random man.

"I do, ma'am." Another Soldier raised a hand.

"Don't anyone move," she spat, moving towards the man who had spoken. "Anyone moves, and I'm just going to start firing, and we'll see who I hit..." She snatched the man's cell phone from him with hands that shook slightly, no matter how she tried to hide it. She punched in a number on instinct, and held the phone to her ear, the gun still hovering over a good portion of the kneeling men.

"_Who is this? How did you get this number?"_

"Sir." Elena kept her voice controlled, even. "I've found the unit. Send in the backup."

"_Elena. Good, good. They'll be there shortly, I mobilized them after you missed the checkpoint call. Put Tseng on, I want to speak to him."_

"I can't do that sir." Her ears picked up the distant sounds of helicopters, and one of the men groaned in despair. She shot him, just because she could.

"_...why not, Elena?"_

"I think he's dead, sir."

Dead silence on the line greeted her words. Realizing that her voice had sounded too flat, to controlled, she added "I'll go and look, I can hear the helicopters now. If anyone tries to run, they'll be killed anyway."

"_Do that, Turk."_ Rufus' voice sounded odd, and he hung up before she could say "Yes, sir."

Elena turned to face the men still on the ground before her. "No one moves, understood?" In truth, she didn't care anymore. How could she? _Dammit, Tseng, why did you do that? I would've been fine... I'm such a damn fool!_ She turned and sprinted for the riverbank, wading in up to her knees before having to stop. The water was _cold_, dammit, and she was already starting to shiver. Tseng had been in there for what, five minutes now? She hadn't seen him break the surface yet.

"Tseng!" She called, as a helicopter thundered into view, and more of Shin-Ra's guard dropped down to restrain any of the ex-Soldiers that had tried to run. "Tseng, dammit! Tseng!" She waded a bit further down, mentally cursing herself.

_How could I let him do that? How could I? Why did he do that? Dammit, he was trussed up like a turkey for the spit, he couldn't swim like that!_

"Tseng!" It was no use- the river had to have dragged him under and away. She slumped, blood loss and exhaustion starting to settle in, and the numbness in her legs spreading up her body as she sank into the water. "Tseng..."

She heard a splash, and looked up, blinking, wondering if someone else had fallen in. Her eyes widened as Tseng erupted out of the water, sucking in a gasping breath. He started choking and coughing, and Elena quickly grabbed for him, pulling him ashore with the last of her energy. "Gods damn it, Tseng!" She pounded on his chest, making him cough more. "What the hell did you do that for?"

Shuddering, barely able to breathe, teeth chattering, Tseng couldn't manage a reply. Underwater, he'd forced himself to remain calm, to sink to the bottom, where he could focus on undoing the bonds around his wrists. His brain, starved for oxygen, and his body, starved for heat, had started to shut down just as he was able to slip the bonds. With the last of his strength, he'd managed to push off the bottom of the river, and get to the surface.

However, hypothermia had set in, and his body temperature was too low. Elena tried to curl around him, but she'd been outside naked, and waded through the water too long to be of much use herself.

A blanket was draped over both of them, and Reno looked the both of them over. "You both look like shit," he mused, head tilted to one side. "One would think you to would find other ways to get days off, you know?"

"Sh-sh-shut up, R-Reno," Elena chattered, pulling the blanket tighter around herself and her partner. "He's b-been in the water t-too long, g-g-get him i-inside."

"I think you've both been in the water too long." Rude knelt down, checking Tseng's pulse, making sure the older man was still breathing. "C'mon, Reno, let's get them into the chopper."

Elena gave a quiet protest as Reno picked her up, pulling her away from Tseng. It was stupid, childish and weak, but she wanted to touch him, wanted to make sure he was real, and still alive. "Easy, rookie," Reno said, using her once-hated nickname to gently tease her. "Once we get both of you wrapped up in the chopper, you can sit with him again..."

Elena mumbled something, but even she wasn't sure what it was. Reno handed her off to someone else, hands rubbed her arms and legs, and she cried out in pain as someone chafted the wound on her calf.

"Shit! Sorry, ma'am... Medic!"

Another pair of hands, another voice, something that burned was injected into her leg, leaving numbness in its wake. "I'll stitch that up when we get back to Headquarters. Get her warm first."

"Tseng." She mumbled, eyes closed. Warm. Safe.

"Right here, Rookie," Reno's voice was quiet, but not subdued. His hand took hers, so warm, and placed on another cold body, one shivering for warmth. "See, 'Lena? Right here."

"Reno. Call Shachou."

"You call him, Rude, he likes you better than me anyway." Reno's tone was betraying something else, though Elena was too tired to care. "He's right here, Rookie. He's gonna be ok."

"Tseng." She was safe. He was safe. Everything would be ok. She passed out.

-

When Elena lost consciousness, Reno freaked out. "Elena. Rookie, answer me, dammit!"

"Relax," the medic snapped, yanking on his arm. "You, handle him." He tossed Reno over to his partner, and examined Elena. "She's fine, it's him I'm worried about." The medic examined Tseng carefully, rubbing his chin.

Rude caught Reno easily and supported him, frowning quietly. "What's wrong?"

"His core body temperature is too low, to start with. Gods know what else." The medic fussed quietly, making certain Tseng was warming up. "Get away. Shouldn't someone be getting us out of here?"

Reno headed for the chopper's controls. "Rude, did you call the boss yet?"

"Not yet," Rude admitted, fishing out his phone. "Relax, Reno. It's fine." He quickly dialed Rufus' phone, and was surprised by his boss' tone of voice when he answered.

"_What is it."_

"Boss, we're there. Elena's fine. Tseng's unconscious."

"_...Tseng is alive?"_

Rude blinked. He knew Rufus trusted Tseng, he knew the senior Turk had been with the boss the longest of all of them. Rufus' voice was quiet, holding hope that he couldn't quite hide. "Yeah, boss... He's fine, he almost drowned, but he's fine now..."

"_I thought- good. Get them home quickly."_

"Will do, sir." Rude hung up, and looked over at Reno. "What the hell was that?"

"Whaddya mean?" Reno was starting the chopper, looking back at Rude and the medic, who was warming up Tseng's extremities, chafing his hands.

"Nothin'." With the medic there, Reno didn't dare to say anything.

_Rufus sure is acting odd about this. _Rude rubbed his jaw. _Oh, well. I guess we're all important to him in some way..._ _And Tseng really has been here longer than dirt. I mean, old man Shin-Ra hired him way before we came along. I'm sure that's all. Tseng's always there. I mean, he's always gonna be there. When we thought he and Elena were dead..._

He shook his head. Elena was still the kid to him, and to Reno. Though she'd grown up, and moved on from the starry-eyed rookie she'd been, she was still a kid, still swooning over Tseng, whether she wanted to admit it or not. The fiasco with Kadaj and his buddies was still too fresh in his mind. _Why'd you send them out, boss? What were you thinking? I don't think they were ready for this..._

He glanced over at the two blanket-covered forms. _And where the hell were their clothes? Fuck those bastards, if they touched either of them... especially Elena..._ Rude would personally castrate every last one of them unless, of course, Reno and Rufus wanted a chance. _Fuck you, boss, they weren't ready for this..._

Elena shifted slightly, mumbling something, her hand seeking and finding Tseng's blanket-swathed form. Smiling faintly, Rude covered her cold hand with a blanket as well. _Relax, rookie. You earned a rest this time._


	10. Hanging on a Heartbeat

Tseng had slept for nearly two days, if one could call it sleep. His fevered unconsciousness was filled with half-formed demons, screaming nightmares, and the occasional beautiful, blissful dream of passion. Aeris? At first, it seemed like it was. Perhaps, he thought, she was calling to him, bringing him out of his body and into the lifestream. 

But then it became evident that he wasn't going to die- or if he was, the planet was taking its sweet time getting him. The dreams shifted them, becoming more twisted, angry, the demons of his past rising and twisting around him.

He thought he cried out in the midst of a fever-dream, and thought he heard Elena soothing him, speaking quietly to him, murmuring how she loved him, how he had to stay, how he should wake up now and tell everyone he was all right.

_Elena, oh, Elena, I love you too, I do, I want to wake up, help me wake up, Elena..._

That was when his dreams shifted for the better, when he dreamed that Elena held him close, soothed him, and he had the strength to roll her beneath him and make love to her as he should have been able to that night.

When he opened his eyes, he realized that it had been just a dream. There was no sun-dappled ceiling above him, the bed he was in was hard and the sheets scratchy, and Elena was not naked in his arms. She was, however, asleep and sitting in the chair beside his bed.

He opened his mouth to speak, and realized he couldn't. His tongue was sticking to the roof of his mouth- Gods, he was thirsty. "Elena," he finally managed to croak, after the third or fourth attempt at finding his voice.

She jerked awake, eyes snapping open immediately and reaching for a gun. When she realized she was unarmed, and Tseng was awake, she squealed and hugged him. "Tseng! You're all right! You're awake! I was so worried!"

For a moment, Tseng thought that everything- Kadaj's attacks, the following mission- that it had all been a dream. That Elena was a rookie again, overreactive and hyperactive. Then that thought was gone as Elena calmed down and sat back. "Sorry, sir... I just- we all thought the worst, really. I need to call Shachou..."

Tseng's eyes still felt feverish. "Where am I?"

"Shin-Ra infirmary," Elena put a cool cloth on his forehead. "Relax, I'll be right back."

_Shin-Ra infirmary? What the hell did I do to myself this time...?_

Oh, now he remembered. He'd fallen in a river. A cold, cold river. And he'd almost drowned. _Ye Gods. I really am an idiot._

But he'd saved Elena... Surely that won him points somewhere?

_I really must be sick if I'm thinking like that. _Never mind the fact that his fevered, delirious mind had already forced him to admit the truth, if only to the void of his nightmares. _No. I can't. I have to stop this. We were both caught in the moment, surely that's changed now. Surely we can return to the calm, casual business relationship we had before._

_And maybe I'm a chocobo._ He shook his head weakly, as Elena hurried back into the room. "I called him, he's on his way with Reno and Rude."

"You didn't disturb him, I hope?" Gods, his voice was soft, hoarse. He coughed to clear his throat and found he couldn't stop the explosive coughing. "Gods," he panted after he could stop coughing and catch his breath. "What was that?"

"One of the worries was that you had pneumonia," Elena said softly, tucking her knees up to her chest for a moment. "Someone's been with you the whole time you were here." She didn't mention that for roughly forty of the forty-eight hours he'd been unconscious in the bed, it had been she herself sitting with him. "How are you feeling now?"

"My lungs feel clearer," he admitted, sitting up slowly. "I'm starting to feel less fuzzy."

"You probably didn't have pneumonia then."

Elena jumped to her feet, and, on instinct, Tseng attempted to rise as well, grunting at the weakness in his limbs, and also the extremely unpleasant feel of a catheter. _No dignity whatsoever._ "I'm fine, now. Can I please have a nurse to untie me, Shachou?"

Rufus swept into the room, looking immaculate and as calm as ever. "I've called for a nurse already, Tseng. Elena, kindly go outside and wait."

While it wasn't phrased as a direct order, they all knew it was one. "Sir," she said quietly, and hurried out, as the nurse walked in. She checked Tseng's charts, vitals, keeping up a steady stream of happy chatter, such as "Oh, your lungs sound much better now", and "Well, let's make you a bit more comfortable..."

Rufus stood politely on the opposite side of the curtains. Tseng suffered in silence as IV's and the catheter were removed. The nurse patted him, called him a "good boy" and pulled the curtains back, nodding to Rufus before heading out of the room. "Anything to- sss- report, Shachou?"

"Ghen Yu's body was found a kilometer away from where we pulled you out," Rufus said mildly, leaving Elena in the hall. "The unit has been... reprimanded."

"I'm sure." Tseng sat up slowly, wincing at how weak he was. _Damn._ "And Elena?"

"Is fine, except for lack of sleep. Relax, Tseng. Don't push yourself. You did well." Rufus laid a hand on his shoulder, and the Turk winced. Rufus quickly withdrew his hand. "Apologies."

"They're sore still, Shachou." Tseng apologized without apologizing. "I did very poorly," he added, stiffly. "I was careless."

"You did as I ordered," Rufus disagreed. "You held true to the ruse. Yes, Tseng, Elena has already- rather haltingly, I might add- told me what occurred, and I watched the surveillance tapes." His lips quirked faintly. "I must say, the two of you reacted quite well for... being interrupted."

Tseng flushed faintly. "Well, all things considered, sir, yes..." He looked at his hands, then back at Rufus. "I would like to go home, sir."

Rufus nodded, looking quietly at Tseng for a long moment. "...I am glad that you're all right." He finally said, turning on his heel and pushing the door open. "Elena, I think he's ready to go. I'll handle the paperwork."

"Yes, sir." Elena hurried into the room, offering her hand to Tseng. After a moment of hesitation, he took it. _In what faith are you offering this to me, Elena? As a partner? A friend? More?_ Then he banished those thoughts easily and attempted to stand, taking a moment to get his feet before taking a slow step. He was shaky, but he moved well enough.

"I'm fine, Elena, I can walk," he gently pushed her away, taking two steps on his own. He immediately regretted it as his balance was thrown off, and he wavered slightly.

Elena was back at his side immediately. "With all due respect, sir, I think you still need my help."

_Sir._ So it was back to that level of formality, was it? _Oh, hells. I destroyed it, didn't I? Gods._ "Thank you, Elena," he said, attempting to subtly persuade her to be less formal with him. _Perhaps she's just tired. Rufus did say..._

"Here we are." Elena glanced around, but Rufus was still back in the hospital, filling out paperwork, and Reno and Rude were with him. "Into the car..." she helped him in, and he was relieved to be sitting again.

_I've got to get my strength back._ "You're exhausted," he pointed out. In the sunlight, it was much more evident than under the pale fluorescent lights that washed everyone out. Her skin was pale, and there were dark bruises under her eyes. He doubted they came from the fight.

"I'm fine," she demurred, shaking her head. "Someone needed to stay with you... I'm your partner, and I felt responsible..."

"For my stupidity? Stay at my place tonight," Tseng insisted, even though the more cautious side of his mind was screaming at him. "I'm already feeling stronger, I'm sure we can take care of each other, rather than you simply running yourself ragged."

For a moment, Elena looked like she was going to refuse. Then she nodded. "All right, sir... thank you."

Tseng settled back, pleased for once to be the passenger in a car and not the driver, as the vehicle headed towards his place. He was already feeling more awake and aware, now that he was away from the hospital. _I actually invited her to stay with me. Oh, Gods. Now what?_

He closed his eyes, letting himself relax. _I have to be calm, relaxed. I can't let myself be overwhelmed as I was last time._

"I don't have clothes to sleep in," Elena mumbled suddenly.

"I have sweatpants and you can sleep in one of my shirts," Tseng said, without thinking. _Oh, yes, brilliant. Why not just carve your initials into her forehead?_ With his eyes still closed, he could easily picture Elena dressed in his clothes, sitting on his bed, unbuttoning the shirt, sliding it down, baring her perfect-

_NO._

He forced his eyes open, rubbing his forehead. _Dammit! Enough!_

He got out of the car as it pulled up to his apartment. Leaning on each other, the two Turks stumbled into Tseng's home. _She's tired... good. Now the two of us don't have to do anything stupid..._

Elena was looking at him oddly. He couldn't place the expression on her face, until she leaned up and kissed him slowly. For a minute, Tseng let it happen, relaxing into it, and letting her lean against him as his back hit the wall. _Why are you doing this? Why- don't you- we have to- we shouldn't..._ Even his thoughts were disjointed and hazy, unfulfilled lust and exhaustion taking their toll.

Gathering the last of his mental abilities, he pushed her away. "Elena, stop," he said, as firmly as possible. She froze, staring up at him. _Don't do it,_ her eyes begged. _Don't push me away... Please..._

He took a deep breath. "Come on, you need rest..."

"No, Tseng, I don't," her voice was very soft, very quiet. "I need you."

_Don't do this to me, Elena... Don't..._ Tseng shook his head, pushing himself off the wall. "No, Elena, you don't."

"Why are you doing this?" Elena's tone turned angry and frustrated. "What is the matter with you? Are you so damn busy being a martyr for Shin-Ra that you can't stand to take a chance with someone-"

"Elena," Tseng allowed a note of sharpness to enter his own voice. "Elena, it isn't like that-"

"-with someone who loves you?" Elena overrode him, eyes blazing. Tseng felt like he'd hit the water all over again, breath knocked out of him, and he hit the wall again. "Tseng, this isn't fair... Don't tell me that it was all about the mission..."

Tseng kept his silence, unable to answer her. _How can you say that? How can you love me? You can't..._ He shook his head, attempting to find his voice. "It-"

"It can't just be about the mission..." She touched him now, resting a hand against his chest, staring up at him. "It can't be. Tseng, we're Turks, we both know the importance of our jobs, but that doesn't mean they have to consume us to that level... Can't we take time for ourselves? Shachou gave us the entire week off..."

He shook his head again, finding his voice. "You know we can't do that, Elena..."

"Reno and Rude are!" Elena fisted a hand in his shirt. "So you outrank me! Just because you're my lover doesn't mean I wouldn't follow your orders on the clock, or even off of it! Tseng, I'm a Turk, same as you. I'm not a stupid, useless rookie anymore... I know what I want... what I need..."

"You say that, but do you really?" Tseng grabbed her hand and pulled it off his shirt. "Elena, you're exhausted, you have no idea what you're saying..."

"Quite the contrary, _Tseng_," Elena shook her head. "I know exactly what I'm saying." She let her hand fall to fist at her side. "And I guess I understand what you're saying too." She took a step back, posture stiff, refusing to slump in defeat. "My apologies, _sir_. I won't strain your hospitality anymore." She turned on her heel before she lost control of her expression. "I'm sure the car hasn't gone far."

_What the hell are you doing, you asshole?_ His inner voice screamed at him, as she started for the door. _She loves you! She tore her heart out of her chest and offered it to her, and you ripped it from her hand and fucking _stomped_ on it! You want her- you need her as much as she needs you, idiot, don't throw her aside!_

"Elena-" he started, before he stopped, unable to encourage her to stay or go.

"Sir?" She didn't turn to face him, her shoulders obviously tense.

_Gods, I'm sorry, Elena, I'm sorry..._ "I-"

_Do it. Give up, you idiot._

_I can't. I can't just use her like that. I can't. I don't- I don't love- do I?_

He just looked at her, vibrating with tension, before taking a step towards her and holding out his hand. "I- I'm sorry, Elena, I-"

"Can I leave now, sir?"

Tseng set his jaw and closed the distance between them, clamping a hand on her shoulder and turning her around. "No, Elena," he said, looking down at her. "You may not."

He watched the expressions play over her face, surprise first, then anger, obviously thinking this was a game. _No, Elena. You're going nowhere. I won't let you. Not this time._

"No," he repeated. "This time, there will be no interruptions." He had the brief joy of watching shock play over her face before he leaned down and kissed her.

_Not this time._

-

Elena had no chance to push him away, though she wanted to- for about the first thirty seconds, before he slid his tongue into her mouth and his hands up her shirt. _Oh, my. He's not wasting any- ohhh- any time this time is he...?_ She arched into his touch, gasping. "Tseng- what-"

"No interruptions," he purred in her ear, biting down on her earlobe. Her knees buckled, and she started to collapse, exhaustion forgotten. He scooped her into his arms- how she never knew, wasn't he still supposed to be ill and on bed rest?- and carried her to his bed.

"Tseng, are you sure about this?" Suddenly she was the voice of reason, moving back to the headboard, watching with slightly-wide eyes as Tseng unbuttoned the loose shirt he had changed into from the hospital.

"Very sure," he said, throwing the shirt aside, over a chair. "Extremely sure. I've wanted this for a while now... even before the mission. You're right, Elena, it wasn't about the mission, and it never was." His lips were at her neck now, and her breath sobbed in her throat as his hands quickly divested her of clothing. "Never was..."

"Tseng, you're ill..." But her protests were falling woefully flat. Why protest, when it was what she desperately wanted herself?

"I feel much better now." He murmured, and his arms were steady as he rested over her. "Really."

"But- the doctor said-"

"Fuck the doctor," Tseng growled, dropping his full weight on her, making her gasp. She'd only heard him swear a handful of times. "Though I'd rather have you instead."

"Tseng..." Elena mumbled, giving up, going limp and placid beneath him. She wanted him, why the hell was she complaining? "Gods."

Tseng chuckled, the sound low and hungry, and he claimed her lips again. "Don't just give up on me, Turk." His voice was still low, a hungry growl that made her shudder and arch up.

"Never, sir." She managed to say, hands sliding up his back. Gods, he was so strong and smooth and hard, all muscle and scars and silky skin.

"Do you really love me, Elena?" His lips rested at the hollow of her neck. "Did you mean that?"

"I wouldn't say it if it wasn't true," Elena whispered, eyes closing. _Don't reject me, Tseng... Please... Do you love me? Tell me..._

"Good," was all Tseng said, and she could feel his smirk against her shoulder. Moments later, he'd left a decent-sized mark at the junction of neck and shoulder, low enough to hide if she wore her uniform.

Well, it wasn't an "I love you too," but it was better than rejection. That was enough, for a Turk.

She slumped back, spent. Trembling with exertion, Tseng simply collapsed on top of her as his arms gave out, too weak to remain above her. "Elena," he mumbled again, lips finding her own.

Elena sighed into his mouth, eyes closing. She felt warm and content, and so, so good. _Everything I'd dreamed of and more…_

Arms slid around her, and Tseng held her close. "Mine," he murmured, his tone a possessive, low growl. Elena shivered, the sound of it sinking into her very soul.

"Yours," she agreed quietly, relaxing in his arms. They were Turks first, lovers second, it was true. But she would certainly take what she could get.

And if this was what she could get? It was far more than she'd ever expected.

She felt relaxed, relieved of tensions she hadn't known she'd had. This was good. She could do this forever.

* * *

A/N: Pr0n edited out. Sorry, y'all. XD Anyway, that's the end. Hope you liked it, sorry it took me so long to get off my bum and post it. 


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